May 5, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Former Vice President Joe Biden made another overture to LGBT voters last week with his selection of Rufus Gifford, a former congressional candidate and Obama administration ambassador to Denmark who is “married” to another man, as the deputy campaign manager for his 2020 presidential run.
Gifford has been a Biden supporter and surrogate for months, The Advocate reports. In his new role, he will serve as a campaign spokesman as well as handle a range of financial and policy responsibilities. He was previously a fundraiser for former President Barack Obama, a staffer on former Secretary of State John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, 2012 Democratic National Committee finance chair, and a consultant for various progressive causes.
He is most well-known, however, for serving as ambassador to Denmark from 2013 to 2017. He became something of a celebrity in the country from the production of a reality TV series about his work in the position, and it was in Denmark that he “married” veterinarian Stephen DeVincent.
In 2018, Gifford unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Massachusetts' 3rd Congressional District, where he lost the Democrat primary to Lori Trahan. He ran on a thoroughly-progressive platform, calling for a government-run healthcare system, aggressive climate change measures, and legal abortion. Biden is running on an equally left-wing platform.
Gifford joins the campaign as multiple controversies surround the 77-year-old candidate, from lingering concerns about his mental acuity to Tara Reade’s accusation that he sexually assaulted her years ago when she was a Senate staffer. On Sunday, New York Times columnist Liz Bruenig wrote that “Democrats need to begin formulating an alternative strategy for 2020 — one that does not include Mr. Biden.”