South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg renewed attacks on Vice President Mike Pence, saying he advances homophobic policies that hurt people.
“I don’t know what’s in his heart. He’s always been polite to me in person. But you look at the fact that he, to this day, cannot bring himself to say that it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against people who are gay, or that I should have been allowed to serve and put my life on the line in the military, as I was,” Buttigieg said in a Friday interview, after conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt asked him whether Pence is homophobic.
“If you’re in public office and you advance homophobic policies, on some level, it doesn’t matter whether you do that out of political calculation or whether you do it out of sincere belief. The problem is it’s hurting other people,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg first attacked the vice president on LGBT issues in early April as the South Bend, Ind., mayor’s campaign took off.
“The idea that God wants somebody like Mike Pence to be the cheerleader for a president largely known for his association with hush money to adult film actresses seems to me to give God very little credit,” Buttigieg said.
A few days later, Buttigieg told a crowd at the LGBTQ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch that Pence’s “problem is not with me — your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Pence responded to Buttigieg’s attacks saying the mayor was attacking “my Christian faith.”
“I hope that Pete will offer more to the American people than attacks on my Christian faith or attacks on the president as he seeks the highest office in the land,” Pence told CNN.
Buttigieg later said he was not critical of Pence’s faith but just his policies.
“I’m not interested in feuding with the vice president, but if he wanted to clear this up, he could come out today and say he’s changed his mind that it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate against anybody in this country for who they are. That’s all,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg is one of 24 candidates in the Democratic presidential primary. He is currently polling in fifth place at 6.7% support according to RealClearPolitics’ polling average.
