Vice President Mike Pence accused Democratic White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg of attacking his Christian faith, as the two men spent the week trading increasingly personal barbs.
“I hope that Pete will offer more to the American people than attacks on my Christian faith or attacks on the president as he seeks the highest office in the land,” Pence said in an interview on CNN. “He’d do well to reflect on the importance of respecting the freedom of religion of every American.”
Pence, who was Indiana governor from 2013 to 2017, said he and Buttigieg, mayor of the state’s fourth-largest city, South Bend, “worked very closely together when I was governor, and I considered him a friend. And he knows I don’t have a problem with him.”
[ Read: Pence on Buttigieg’s straw man attacks: What gives old pal?]
Pence was referring to comments Buttigieg made about his homosexuality in which he called out the vice president.
“If me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” Buttigieg said Sunday. “And that’s the thing 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.”
Buttigieg added that marrying his husband “has made me a better man, and yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.” He also accused Pence of being “the cheerleader of the porn star presidency” and “at best complicit” in the rise of white nationalism.
When asked to respond to Buttigieg’s remarks, Pence told CNN that “all of us have our own religious convictions. Pete has his convictions, I have mine.” He continued, “I think Pete’s quarrel is with the First Amendment. All of us in this country have the right to our religious beliefs. I’m a Bible-believing Christian.”
Buttigieg claimed this week that he didn’t want a row with Pence, even as he continued his attacks on the vice president.
“I’m not interested in feuding with the vice president, 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. That’s all,” Buttigieg said on Friday’s episode of “The Ellen Show.”
“I’m not critical of his faith; I’m critical of bad policies,” said Buttigieg, who came out as gay in 2015. “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.”
[ Related: Karen Pence says Pete Buttigieg is attacking her husband for ‘notoriety’]
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