Vice President Mike Pence responded to 2020 White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg in an interview that aired on Friday, after he previously criticized him.
The Vice President accused the South Bend, Ind., mayor of ginning up a conflict for votes and attacking his religious faith.
Mike Pence appeared on an interview on CNN and said that Buttigieg knew that Pence did’t have a problem with him over his sexuality. The mayor is the first openly gay man to gain traction in a major party’s primary race.
“You know, I’ve known Mayor Pete for many years. We worked closely together when I was governor,” Pence told CNN’s Dana Bash in the interview.
“I considered him a friend,” Pence added. “He knows I don’t have a problem with him.”
“I don’t believe in discrimination against anybody. I treat everybody how I want to be treated,” Pence continued. “The truth of it is, all of us have our own religious convictions. Pete has his convictions, I have mine.”
The Vice President added that the mayor’s quarrel was “with the First Amendment,” adding: “All of us in this country have a right to our religious beliefs.”
Pence and Buttigieg have recently traded blows in the press after the South Bend mayor accused the Vice President of holding his sexuality against him due to his conservative Christian beliefs about homosexuality.
