Vice President Mike Pence responded to the attacks from Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, saying that “he knows better” and suggested the reason the South Bend, Indiana, mayor was criticizing him was in an attempt to stand out in a crowded field of candidates.
"He said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally. And he knows better. He knows me," Pence told CNBC in an interview that will air Thursday morning. "But I get it. You know, it’s – look, again, 19 people running for president on that side in a party that’s sliding off to the left. And they’re all competing with one another for how much more liberal they are."
CNBC's Joe Kernen asked the vice president if his views on same-sex ‘marriage’ have changed in the last two decades.
“My family and I have a view of marriage that’s informed by our faith,” Pence responded. “And we stand by that, but that doesn’t mean that we’re critical of anyone else who has a different point of view.”
The whole faux feud, as it’s being reported in mainstream media, started at an LGBTQ event over the weekend when Buttigieg 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 Pence’s 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."
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The last time Pence had made any sort of public statement about Buttigieg was in 2015 when he came out as being gay and a local station asked the then-governor about the announcement. Pence’s response?
"I hold Mayor Buttigieg in the highest personal regard. We have a great working relationship. I see him as a dedicated public servant, and a patriot."
Second lady Karen Pence told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade that her husband and Buttigieg had “always had a good relationship” and thought the recent comments from the mayor were helping him “get some notoriety.”
"I think in our country we need to understand you shouldn’t be attacked for what your religious beliefs are and I think kids need to learn that at a young age that this is okay what faith people have, we don’t attack them for their faith,” she said on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
Without naming the second lady directly, Buttigieg appeared to respond to her comments on Twitter, writing, "People will often be polite to you in person while advancing policies that harm you and your family. You will be polite to them in turn, but you need not stand for such harms. Instead, you push back, honestly and emphatically. So it goes, in the public square."
People will often be polite to you in person, while advancing policies that harm you and your family. You will be polite to them in turn, but you need not stand for such harms. Instead, you push back, honestly and emphatically. So it goes, in the public square.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 9, 2019
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