Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg has joined the ranks of “make America great again” doubters, telling supporters in South Carolina Monday that America “was never as great as advertised.”
Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg today in South Carolina: America “was never as great as advertised” pic.twitter.com/VdOxexSIHJ
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 6, 2019
Instead, the South Bend, Indiana, mayor suggested that “so many of the solutions are going to come from the communities, like the one where I grew up, which is an industrial Midwest city, which is exactly the kind of city that our current president targeted with a message saying that we can find greatness just by stopping the clock and turning it back and making America great again.”
Buttigieg argued that Trump’s message has never been advisable nor feasible “when that past that he is promising to return us to was never as great as advertised, especially for marginalized Americans. And there’s no going back anyway.” (RELATED: Buttigieg Doubts That Trump Believes In God)
Buttigieg, who is openly homosexual, did not stipulate whether he considered himself to be marginalized as a member of the LGBTQ community.
The mayor has accused Vice President Mike Pence of having “a problem” with him because of Buttigieg’s sexual orientation: “If me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” Buttigieg said at an LGBT event. “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.” (RELATED: Pence Breaks Silence On Buttigieg’s Attack On His Faith)
Vice President Mike Pence delivers remarks during the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the 148th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on Apr. 26, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
However, Pence — who is an evangelical Christian and the former governor of Indiana — worked amicably with the Democratic mayor without any protest from Buttigieg until he decided to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
Buttigieg has also alienated some voters by reversing himself on the Black Lives Matter controversy, having said in 2015 that “all lives matter.”