Mike And Ike Gay Divorce Sexualizing Candy For Kids Warns Tony Perkins
Mike And Ike, a 72-year old candy brand, are splitting up, and anti-gay Christian conservative Tony Perkins is hopping mad, claiming the 99-year old company is “sexualizing candy,” and “chipping away at the value of marriage,” despite the fact no one every claimed Mike And Ike were ever married — or civil unioned, or domestic partnershipped. Mike And Ike’s manufacturer, Just Born, Inc., of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, launched the inventive marketing campaign three weeks ago, announcing the “couple” was splitting up for “creative differences,” and some pundits — like Perkins, who sees a gay threat behind every turn — automatically assuming the pair were lovers and not business partners. In fact, Just Born told The Morning Call, “These guys are best friends, candy-making partners,” he said. “Others have chosen to see it another way, and that’s fine.”
READ: Chris Matthews: There’s ‘A Good Argument’ To Ban Tony Perkins From Hardball
Tony Perkins is the head of the Southern Poverty Law Center certified anti-gay hate group, Family Research Council, and a premiere entrant in GLAAD’s Commentator Accountability Project (CAP).
Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch, which has the audio, published this transcript of Perkins’ attack on the candy manufacturer:
These days, you can’t get a sugar high without experiencing a cultural low. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. There’s trouble in candy land. After more than 70 years together, Mike & Ike are calling it quits. The duo is staging a gay divorce as part of a new ad campaign to draw in younger customers. In this society, even candy has an agenda! From Facebook to Tumblr, the fruity pair says, “The rumors are true. We just couldn’t agree on stuff anymore.” Starting this summer, the company will spend $15 million on billboards and TV commercials that poke fun at the breakup. It’s just another subtle example of society chipping away at the value of marriage. And I don’t know what’s more disturbing–that advertisers think divorce appeals to kids or that sexualizing candy will make people buy more. After a year-long build-up, the company will reveal if the couple reconciles. Until then, look for Mike & Ike to have a distinctly liberal flavor.
Zack Ford at Think Progress offers some wise insight:
Perkins’ overreaction is humorous, but also telling. This silly anecdote speaks to two important tactics that conservatives employ. First, they promote the idea that any portrayal of characters that are gay is negative and “sexual.†Plenty of fictional opposite-sex couples have clearly been in romantic relationships for decades (Mickey and Minnie, Kermit and Miss Piggy, etc.), but no one is concerned that they are somehow “sexualizing†children. Secondly, Perkins insinuates that anything gay is “liberal,†which is far from the truth. Sexual diversity cuts across all races, religions, and political ideologies, regardless of how hate group leaders like Perkins try to relegate the LGBT community into some uniform “cultural low†category.
Sam Kennedy, at The Morning Call noted earlier this month that “as ad campaigns go, this one seems to be off to a good start,” and added:
So far, the New York Times has published a story on the matter. And a headline on the Huffington Post website reads: “Mike And Ike Head For Gay Divorce In New Ad Campaign.”
Of course, whatever the nature of Mike and Ike’s relationship, it couldn’t possibly have had the force of law in Pennsylvania, a state that has yet to legalize same-sex unions.
Mike and Ike, whose packaging bills the candy as “the original fruits,” was introduced in 1940. In their early years together, both Mike and Ike brandished mustaches. Mike later switched to the clean-shaven look (even though it accentuated his chubby cheeks).
According to the Mike and Ike Facebook page:
“Yes it’s true. We should have seen it coming. Mike and Ike have split up over creative differences about Mike and Ike candy, and they have left the building. We never thought it would come to this. … Mike has decided to pursue a music career. Ike wants to be an artist.”
Fanciful story lines aside, Just Born marketing manager Donald Houston said Facebook is an ideal outlet for reaching the candy maker’s target audience: teenagers.
“That’s where they are,” he explained. “It allows us to have that two-way communication. They can comment.”
In its campaign, scheduled to run for a year, Just Born is making use of other electronic media as well. The Facebook site links to a blog that features video commentary from celebrities such as Greyson Chance, a teen pop singer, and Eden Sher, a star on the ABC sitcom “The Middle.” In one video, NBA player Lamar Odom emotes, “When I heard the news, I was devastated.”
Meanwhile, hitting store shelves is Mike and Ike packaging with one or the other name seemingly blacked out by felt-tip marker. A similar billboard campaign is planned for the summer.
The company’s Facebook followers increased ten-fold, and there’s even a Mike And Ike Tumblr blog.
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Sir Edward Davey, a UK Member of Parliament who serves as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, blasted President Donald Trump on Monday, and warned that Britain’s King Charles should not visit the American president later this month.
Quoting President Trump’s recent threat to Iran, “A whole civilization will die tonight,” Sir Davey called the statement, “words I never thought I would hear from an American president,” and “a stark reminder of how reckless, immoral, and completely outside the bounds of international law this president is.”
Davey declared Trump “no friend of the United Kingdom” and “no leader of the free world,” but rather, “a dangerous and corrupt gangster” — and warned that is how Trump must be treated.
“So will the Prime Minister advise the King to call off his state visit to Washington before it’s too late?” Davey asked of Keir Starmer. “Because I really fear, for what Trump might say or do, while our King is forced to stand by his side. We cannot put His Majesty in that position.”
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The Independent reports that Starmer did defend the King’s upcoming U.S. state visit, and “held firm, arguing the visit marks the 250th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries.”
BBC News reports that Starmer did call Trump’s threat against Iran “wrong,” and said he would not have used the same words as the U.S. president.
King Charles’ U.S. visit will be the first UK state visit since Queen Elizabeth II came to America in 2007.
Donald Trump is no leader of the free world. He’s a dangerous and corrupt gangster.
The Prime Minister needs to call off the King’s state visit to Washington before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/xt7nxrDPSu
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
The White House, apparently eager to shift focus from President Donald Trump’s failed Iran peace talks to his economic agenda, brought in an Arkansas grandmother who delivers DoorDash to help pay for her husband’s cancer treatments. She knocked on the Oval Office door carrying two brown bags of McDonald’s.
“Nice to see you,” the president said as he opened the door.
“Nice to meet you,” the grandmother of ten grandchildren, Sharon Simmons replied. “I have your DoorDash order for you, Mr. President.”
Even Trump the showman couldn’t help but notice the event looked “staged.”
“The reason for this,” Trump told Simmons, “is that I heard you picked up $11,000 because the tax bill was so big, the refund is the biggest one you’ve ever had.”
“It definitely was,” Simmons said. “I saved over $11,000 by not having to claim” tips, she said.
“It’s such an honor to meet you,” Trump went on to say. “And I think you voted for me?”
“Um, maybe,” Simmons replied, chuckling.
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Moments later, a reporter asked Simmons, “Are the White House good tippers? Do you know?”
“Um,” she responded, before Trump said, “Wait,” and pulled cash from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Yes, very,” she then told reporters.
CNN’s Kit Maher later reported that Simmons “wouldn’t reveal how much President Trump tipped her.”
Online critics pushed back on the event.
“Trump’s winning message: A grandma doing Door Dash because her husband’s cancer treatments are too expensive,” wrote the popular political commentary account on X, PatriotTakes.
“Why is she in a position like this to begin with?” asked Lisa Glass on X. “Does he really think that that’s a brag -that a woman has to deliver DoorDash and depend on a few cents more she might get from tips to help pay her husband‘s cancer treatments?!!!!!!”
“Well, I hope someone can talk to her and make her realize that if she had better representation, she might not have to be delivering DoorDash into her senior years to pay for her husband‘s cancer treatments,” she added.
President Trump receives DoorDash McDonald’s order and speaks with delivery driver: “I think you voted for me?”
Delivery driver: “Maybe.” pic.twitter.com/WRRqlLhxOd
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: ‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump’s historic unpopularity is taking a toll on Republican candidates, with once-solidly-red states showing deepening blue cracks as his Iran war, gas and food prices, inflation, and overall economic uncertainty take hold of voters.
The signs have been there: the massive “No Kings” protests, the breaks by once-devout MAGA allies, Fox News acknowledging that Trump is “underwater” with voters, the mass exodus of Republicans from Congress, historically low consumer sentiment, and, of course, the polls.
Trump’s approval rating has been characterized as lower than any modern-day president’s at this point in their term.
According to The Economist, Trump’s approval rating is at 37 percent, and his disapproval rating is at 56 percent. That’s a net negative of 19 points.
It’s worse in the red state of Georgia, where Trump is 23 points underwater.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein, 56 percent of voters in the Peach State disapprove of Trump’s handling of rising gas prices. 57 percent say the money spent on his Iran war is contributing to higher prices and uncertainty. And 53 percent disapprove of his handling of the Iran war.
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The Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor reports that they have just moved the Georgia Senate race from Toss Up to Lean Democratic.
“Some of this is outside of GOP candidates’ control,” Taylor writes, “and Trump is hurting them so much right now on Iran/gas prices when voters uniformly say their top worry is the economy.”
She also reports that Cook Political has moved three other Senate races toward the Democrats: North Carolina (Toss Up to Lean Democratic), Ohio (Lean Republican to Toss Up), and Nebraska (Solid Republican to Lean Republican).
“Right now, we see the likeliest outcome is a 1 to 3 seat Democratic pickup – just short of 4 they need” to take control of the Senate majority, Taylor writes.
Democrats have high hopes in other states as well, including Alaska, where Trump is 12 points underwater; Maine, where he is 25 points underwater; and Texas, where he is 19 points underwater.
And Iowa, where Trump is underwater by 14 points, according to The Economist.
“Iowa looks to be seriously in play for Democrats in November up and down the ballot, according to a new survey from a Democratic group that backs moderate candidates,” Politico reports.
Democrat Rob Sand is leading Republican Randy Feenstra in the Iowa governor’s race — by eight points, while Republicans hold “slim leads” in the Senate race.
The Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund is expected to pour millions into Iowa, “making it one of five GOP-held states where they’ve made a major investment as they fight to keep the majority.”
Former Obama official Tommy Vietor notes that “Iowa really does look competitive this year. It’s a combination of Trump fatigue, economy/inflation, and tariffs crushing farmers. Dem pickup opportunities include: Governor, US Senate, three House races (dream big and its all four), and its WAY cheaper than other states.”
READ MORE: White House Fires Back After President’s Doctor Is Asked to Test Trump’s Mental Fitness
Image via Reuters
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From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
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British MP Blasts ‘Corrupt Gangster’ Trump
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