Trump adviser Tony Perkins says ‘circumstances’ made Pete Buttigieg gay
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Pete Buttigieg (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
President Donald Trump’s faith adviser Tony Perkins has hit back at Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg for claiming God made him gay.
In a speech on Sunday (April 7), Buttigieg had said: “Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade. And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand.
“If you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Tony Perkins: God didn’t make Pete Buttigieg gay
The comments were rebuffed by Tony Perkins, who sits on Trump’s faith advisory board and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday (April 10), the evangelical anti-LGBT campaigner said: “I think Mayor Pete has an issue with the words of scripture.
“There’s just no evidence to support that. I know that if you repeat a lie often enough, people begin to believe it, but God does not create people that way.”
Democratic presidential hopeful South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks to members of the media before appearing at the Commonwealth Club of California on March 28, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
Perkins added: “Now, there’s circumstances that lead one maybe down that path, and I’m not saying anyone would choose that lifestyle… but to say that they were made by God?
“First off, the science doesn’t back that up, and scripture doesn’t back that up, because Jesus himself spoke to what marriage was. And Matthew also spoke to what gender was. I don’t hear Mayor Pete quoting that.”
Referring to Buttigieg, he added: “Scripture warns of wolves in sheep’s clothing coming and talking smooth, trying to be all things to all people.
“The reality is he’s advocating for policies that are not in line with the scripture. You can talk about words. You can use the rhetoric of scripture, but your policy has to match it.”
He continued: “When you’re redefining God’s institution of marriage, you can’t claim to be carrying out the policies and principles of scripture. when you’re doing things that are 180 degrees from it.”
Mike Pence claims he had ‘great working relationship’ with Pete Buttigieg
The comments from Buttigieg earned a more diplomatic response from Vice President Mike Pence himself.
The VP, who previously served as Governor of Indiana while Buttigieg was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, claimed they “had a great working relationship.”
Pence told CNBC on Wednesday (April 10): “[Pete] said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally. And he knows better. He knows me.”
While Pence was governor, Buttigieg strongly condemned his actions in signing an anti-LGBT ‘freedom to discriminate’ bill into law.
