Pete Buttigieg Calls Mike Pence The ‘Cheerleader Of The Porn Star Presidency’
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is carrying out a long-shot campaign for the Democratic Party’s 2020 nomination, said on Sunday that he believes Vice President Mike Pence is “the cheerleader of the porn star presidency.”
As CNN reports, Buttigieg was in Austin, Texas, on Sunday night for a CNN town hall as part of the annual SXSW conference. There, while being interviewed by Jake Tapper, he was asked if Mike Pence would be a better or worse president than Donald Trump.
“Does it have to be those two?”
Buttigieg then went on to admit that he hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with Pence. The Democratic candidate is openly gay, while Pence has developed a reputation as being a rather fierce opponent of LGBTQ rights. But beyond that, he says that he (Buttigieg) always believed that Pence was, at his core, “not corrupt” and that he “believes in our institutions.” Or, at least he did until Pence became Donald Trump’s Vice President.
Buttigieg says that he sees a disconnect between Mike Pence’s outward displays of religious devotion — Pence has always been open about being an evangelical Christian — and his unwavering support of Donald Trump. Buttigieg suggests that the Trump administration’s policies don’t exactly square with what’s in the Bible.
“His interpretation of Scripture is pretty different than mine to begin with. My understanding of Scripture it’s about protecting the stranger and the prisoner and the poor person and that idea. That’s what I get in the gospel when I’m at church and his has a lot more to do with sexuality and a certain view of rectitude.”
Well said, sir. https://t.co/6AdFoirhPW
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 11, 2019
Buttigieg also points out what he sees is a disconnect between Pence’s purported devotion to the Scriptures and his support of Donald Trump, who has purportedly paid “hush money” to at least one adult film actress to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
“How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency? Is it that he stopped believing in Scripture when he started believing in Donald Trump?”
Elsewhere during his town hall, Buttigieg put forth some ideas that he believes the government should consider if he became POTUS. For example, he suggests abolishing the Electoral College, saying that the president should be elected by the popular vote. He also suggests increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court from nine to 15, a process that would require a constitutional amendment and would likely take years, even if it had widespread political support.