Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg faces a liability against President Trump because of his overt affection for his husband, Chasten.
More than one week after being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Limbaugh claimed it would be “fun envisioning” the contrast Trump would offer to Buttigieg. “A gay guy, 37 years old, loves kissing his husband on debate stages. Can you see Trump have fun with that?” Limbaugh asked.
Limbaugh, who recently revealed his diagnosis of “advanced lung cancer,” was discussing the electability of Democratic contenders for president, asserting that Trump could best them all on the debate stage.
“They’re looking at Mayor Pete, 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they’re saying, OK, how’s this going to look, 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to ‘Mr. Man’ Donald Trump? What’s going to happen there? And they got to be looking at that, and they’ve got to be saying, that despite all the great progress and despite all the great wokeness, and despite all the great ground that’s been covered, America’s still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president,” Limbaugh said.
“They have to be saying this, don’t they? Now, there may be some Democrats who think that is the ticket. There may be some Democrats who think that’s exactly what we need to do, Rush. Get a gay guy kissing his husband on stage, ram it down Trump’s throat, and beat him in the general election. Really. Having fun envisioning that,” he continued.
[Also read: ‘A modern-day Pharisee’: Buttigieg’s evangelical brother-in-law urges him to ‘repent’ of abortion views]
In a 2019 interview with Fox News host Steven Hilton, Trump said Buttigieg’s marriage was a “great sign of progress” in America.
“I think it’s great,” Trump said. “I think that’s something that perhaps some people will have a problem with,” he said, quickly adding: “I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it’s good.”
Trump is the only president to have supported gay marriage before entering office. President Barack Obama opposed the proposition before his 2009 inauguration. “These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m — I’m fine with that,” Trump said during a 2016 interview, referring to the 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges.
