Pete Buttigieg shuts down Mike Pence gay feud question at CNN town hall
Pete Buttigieg in Iowa (Scott Olson/Getty)
Pete Buttigieg has bluntly shut down a question over his criticism of Vice President Mike Pence’s attitude to LGBT+ rights.
Speaking to Anderson Cooper during CNN’s town hall event on Monday night (April 22), Buttigieg was asked about an ongoing dispute between the presidential candidate and the vice president.
Cooper asked Buttigieg to respond directly to comments made by US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who compared Buttigieg to Jussie Smollett for his attacks on Pence.
Pete Buttigieg refuses to respond to U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell saying that Buttigieg is pushing a hate hoax like Jussie Smollett in his attacks on Vice President Mike Pence pic.twitter.com/yWLVsclMUc— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 23, 2019
“I’m not a master fisherman but I know bait when I see it and I’m not gonna take it,” Buttigieg snapped back.
The Mike Pence and Pete Buttigieg dispute
Pence and Buttigieg, who are both from Indiana, have been publicly arguing over their Christian values.
On April 10 Pence told CNBC that Buttigieg “said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally.”
Earlier Buttigieg had accused Pence of “having a problem” with the fact that he’s gay.
Speaking at an April 7 event arranged by the Victory Fund, which supports LGBT+ candidates. he said: “If me being gay was a choice, it was made far, far above my pay grade.”
“That’s the thing that I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand – that if you got a problem with who I am – your problem is not with me, your quarrel sir, is with my creator.”
Pence once claimed that same-sex marriage would lead to the “deterioration of the family” and “societal collapse,” and has been accused of supporting so-called conversion therapy, which he denies.
Pete Buttigieg’s views on voter rights raise eyebrows
During the town hall, Buttigieg was also asked about voter rights and said people shouldn’t be allowed to vote while incarcerated.
Earlier in his town hall fellow Democrat, Bernie Sanders argued that prisoners should be able to vote, while Kamala Harris didn’t oppose Sanders’ argument, saying that “we can have that conversation.”
Buttigieg said, “While incarcerated? No, I don’t think so.”
Pete Buttigeig: People shouldn't be able to vote while incarcerated.
Young woman, top right:#truestory #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/nXpoAGKXge— Ali Harb (@Harbpeace) April 23, 2019
Buttigieg’s comments went viral after a Twitter user posted a video of one woman’s shocked reaction to the comments.
Twitter users then piled in on the social media thread, many disagreeing with Buttigieg’s point of view.
If incarcerated individuals shouldn’t vote, then their labor shouldn’t be exploited by major corporations/entities for what amounts to pennies either.— h. (@HCobbland84) April 23, 2019
“If incarcerated individuals shouldn’t vote, then their labor shouldn’t be exploited by major corporations/entities for what amounts to pennies either,” one person wrote.
Another said: “Pete, I feel, is going to have a black and Latinx problem pretty soon. I don’t see him really addressing issues important to us in a significant way.”
