The New Republic has retracted and apologized for a rambling hit piece challenging Pete Buttigieg's bid to become the president of the United States.

"My Mayor Pete Problem," written by liberal gay novelist and literary critic Dale Peck, salaciously speculated about Buttigieg's preferred sexual positions and argued that because the married Indiana politician waited until his 30s to come out as gay, he would act like a "gay teenager" in the White House. The article also repeatedly referred to Buttigieg as "Mary Pete," which the author described as "the gay equivalent of Uncle Tom."

The incendiary online op-ed, which posted Friday afternoon, was removed from the site amid widespread outrage and criticism from readers on social media.

"Mary Pete is a neoliberal and a Jeffersonian meritocrat, which is to say he’s just another unrepentant or at least unexamined beneficiary of white male privilege," Peck wrote in his controversial op-ed. "The only thing that distinguishes the mayor of South Bend from all those other well-educated reasonably intelligent white dudes who wanna be president is what he does with his dick (and possibly his ass, although I get a definite top-by-default vibe from him, which is to say that I bet he thinks about getting fucked but he’s too uptight to do it)."

"He’s been out for, what, all of four years, and if I understand the narrative, he married the first guy he dated. And we all know what happens when gay people don’t get a real adolescence because they spent theirs in the closet: they go through it after they come out," Peck continued, adding that "the last thing I want in the White House is a gay man staring down 40 who suddenly realizes he didn’t get to have all the fun his straight peers did when they were teenagers."

"Call me a hick from the sticks, but I don’t want someone who fills out his life like he fills out an AP exam serving as the country’s moral compass," Peck concluded. "And no, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed."

Within hours of its publication, the article was replaced with the following statement: “Dale Peck’s post ‘My Mayor Pete Problem’ has been removed from the site, in response to criticism of the piece’s inappropriate and invasive content. We regret its publication.”

“The New Republic recognizes that this post crossed a line, and while it was largely intended as satire, it was inappropriate and invasive,” editor Chris Lehmann added in a statement provided to various media outlets.

New Republic owner and editor-in-chief Win McCormack also issued an official apology on Saturday: "Yesterday The New Republic’s website published an opinion piece about Mayor Pete Buttigieg that should not have appeared there. As The New Republic’s owner, I want to extend our sincerest apologies to Mayor Buttigieg, as well as to our readers, for an article that was both inappropriate and offensive. It has been removed from our site."

"I appreciated that article was taken down," Buttigieg told the Associated Press. "I don't think it really reflects The New Republic that I know." Pressed to respond to those who question whether he's "gay enough," he replied, "You know, there's not gonna be an answer for everybody. The best way I've found to deal with that is to just be myself and let other people worry about whether it's enough."

"That was the shortest roller coaster ride ever," Peck tweeted after his article was retracted. He then wrote that he was heading to the beach to celebrate his birthday, "leaving the internet to its own devices."

Peck has ruffled feathers before with his incendiary writing. He once told The Daily Beast, “[I]f I have to read another book about the Holocaust, I’ll kill a Jew myself.”