Pete Buttigieg, the Indiana mayor who is eyeing a Democratic 2020 presidential run, slammed Vice President Mike Pence’s religiosity on Sunday night, questioning his allegiance to President Donald Trump.
Buttigieg made the remarks during a CNN Town Hall. First he criticized Pence, who has a sketchy history on LGBTQ rights, but pivoted toward the vice president, who used to be Indiana’s governor, for aligning himself with Trump.
The slam included a zinger—calling Trump’s administration the “porn star presidency.”
“It’s really strange, because I used to at least believe that he believed in our—I disagreed with him furiously on these things—but I thought, well, at least he believes in our institutions and he’s not personally corrupt,” the mayor said. “But then how could he get on board with this presidency?”
Buttigieg then went in:
“His interpretation of scripture is pretty different than mine to begin with. My understanding of scripture, is that it is about protecting the stranger, and the prisoner, and the poor person, and that idea of welcome. That’s what I get in the gospel when I’m in church. His has a lot more to do with sexuality and, I don’t know, a certain view of rectitude.”
Then the potential 2020 hopeful dug Pence about him becoming Trump’s vice president.
“But even if you buy into that, how could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency? Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he stopped believing in Donald Trump? I don’t know.”
Mayor Pete Buttigieg on @VP: "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?" https://t.co/0w8SGn2Fw9 #CNNTownHall pic.twitter.com/7F6pvSfNOF
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 11, 2019
Buttigieg was clearly referencing Trump and Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who alleges she had an affair with Trump in the past. The hush money payments made to her ahead of the 2016 election have come under the microscope in recent weeks.
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