City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is remaining tight-lipped after he is said to have blasted a Donald Trump-supporting gay couple at a dinner party earlier this year when they urged him to speak with the president to discuss the city’s infrastructure needs, according to the New York Times.
Johnson declined to comment on the alleged spat at the Chelsea apartment of Bill White and Bryan Eure, a couple who spent years supporting and donating to Democrats before changing their minds overnight — actually even faster than that.
White, who previously served as president of the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, and Bryan Eure, an insurance broker, decided to become Trump supporters the night of the 2016 election when White opted to leave Hillary Clinton’s party at the Javits Center as results came in and instead headed over to Trump’s victory party. While President Barack Obama was once the guest of honor at a big-ticket fundraiser they hosted, they’re now hosting parties for Donald Trump Jr. and dining with Fox News anchors — and former anchors, including the similarly politically flexible Kimberly Guilfoyle, the ex-wife of California Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom who is now dating the First Son.
Johnson, who is gay and has repeatedly railed against the Trump administration’s actions on issues ranging from LGBTQ rights to immigration and beyond, was “irate” at the couple’s suggestion that he talk with the president, according to the Times. White said it was “like a food fight” and that Johnson called them “complete political idiots.” Johnson and the couple were said to have been friends, but have not spoken since.
Johnson’s reticence at commenting even for Gay City News readers is notable given that most of them would likely love to get the dish on an anti-Trump food fight.
While the date of the meeting was not revealed, Trump unveiled an infrastructure plan in February entailing $200 billion in federal funds.
White, whom the Times labeled a member of “Manhattan’s liberal elite,” has a checkered history in New York dating back to his time at the Intrepid museum. He resigned from that position after charges surfaced that he acted in an unlicensed middleman role to help investment companies win pension fund business from then-State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who resigned in disgrace. Governor Andrew Cuomo, state attorney general at the time, said White pocketed more than $570,000 from a deal he made as part of that work, according to the Daily News. He was never charged with a crime, though he agreed to pay a $1 million fine.
Eure has been a Republican, but still donated to Democrats alongside his husband, at least until election day in 2016.
The couple also have a home in Georgia, where the Times photographed them.
