Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg criticized Vice President Mike Pence anew for his view that religion discredits LGBTQ rights, in an interview airing Friday.
“I’m not critical of his faith. I’m critical of bad policies. I don’t have a problem with religion. I’m religious, too. I have a problem with religion being used as a justification to harm people and especially in the LGBTQ community,” the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in an interview with NBC’s “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”
Mr. Buttigieg added he was “not interested in feuding” with Mr. Pence.
“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,” the mayor continued.
The openly gay Mr. Buttigieg criticized Mr. Pence Sunday for his views on homosexuality, telling the vice president his marriage to a man has moved him “closer to God.”
“That’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand: That if you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,” he said.
Mr. Pence said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show Thursday that he and his family “have a view of marriage that’s informed by our faith.”
“And we stand by that, but that doesn’t mean that we’re critical of anyone else who has a different point of view,” he continued.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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