U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, slammed Mayor Pete Buttigieg this week for his repeated false attacks on Vice President Mike Pence, stating that he was pushing a hate-crime hoax just like actor Jussie Smollett.
Ambassador Grenell made the comments on Thursday night for Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” where he defended the character of vice president Mike Pence and his wife Karen.
“Mayor Pete has been pushing this hate hoax along the lines of Jussie Smollett for a very long time now, several weeks, and I find it really ironic that Mayor Pete stayed silent about this so-called hate hoax on him and others during 2015, 2016, 2017 when Mike Pence was governor,” Grenell said.
“There was total silence. It’s ironic that right about now when he’s starting his fundraising apparatus to run for president that he comes up with this idea and this attack.” he continued.
“One of the things that really bothers me about this attack is that Mike Pence is a friend of mine. Mike and Karen are great people. They are godly people. They’re followers of Christ. They don’t have hate in their heart for anyone. They know my partner, they have accepted us. You ask me do we agree philosophically on every single issue? No,” Grenelle added.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg has repeatedly attacked the Vice President’s Christian faith and as many reporters wrote last week, “there is no evidence that VP Pence has ever said an unkind word about or done an unkind thing to Pete Buttigieg.”
During a recent appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Mayor Buttigieg spoke about VP Pence: “He’s nice. If he were here, you would think he’s a nice guy to your face. But he’s also fanatical.”
He also spoke about the Vice President at an LGBT event, where he said: “Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade. And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pence’s of the world would understand. If you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Pete Buttigieg also made unnerving remarks — coming from a government official — about Pence’s faith, saying: “It’s time for us to move on toward a more inclusive and more humane vision of faith than what this Vice President represents.”
The Vice President’s wife, Karen Pence, responded to Pete Buttigieg’s remarks by saying that he was gaining “some notoriety” by making his attacks on the VP, adding: “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 OK, what faith people have; we don’t attack them for their faith.”