Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has slammed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for a campaign video the GOP presidential hopeful released attacking former President Donald Trump for swearing to protect LGBTQ rights.
“I’m going to leave out the weirdness of trying to prove your manhood by putting together a video that sticks images of you between oiled up and shirtless bodybuilders, and just move on to the bigger issue that bothers me every time I see this stuff in the political space, which is, again, who are you trying to help?” Buttigieg said Sunday during a CNN “State of the Union” interview.
The video posted Friday shows footage of Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2016 saying he “would do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens.” Trump’s remarks came in the wake of the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 50 people dead.
“I just don’t understand the mentality of someone getting up in the morning thinking they’re going to prove their worth by competing to see who can make life the hardest for a hard hit community, which is already so vulnerable. in America,” said Buttigieg, who is gay and has spoken out frequently on LGBTQ issues.
DeSantis has championed several laws restricting LGBTQ rights in Florida as governor, including an education bill called by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with some students. . The bill spurred the GOP primary candidate’s contentious months-long battle with Disney.
The video shared by the “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account also angered some members of the Republican Party, including the Log Cabin Republicans, a group representing LGBT conservatives, who said the clip was “straying into homophobic territory. “.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly listed Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay Cabinet member.