Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg believes Scripture’s teaching does not match with supporting President Trump.
“I’m not going to tell other Christians how to be Christians,” he said, according to Faithwire. “But I will say I cannot find any compatibility between the way this president conducts himself and anything I find in Scripture.”
The response came during a CNN town hall event when a Democratic Christian asked the openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, how he would dispel a popular belief that Christianity means adherence to the Republican party.
“It starts with sending the message that God does not belong to a political party,” he said. “It’s also very important to make clear that the presidency and the Constitution and my presidency will belong to people of every religion and of no religion, equally. This is not about imposing my faith on anybody.”
The moderator then asked Buttigieg if it’s possible to be a Christian and support Trump.
Earlier this year, Buttigieg made a similar swipe at Trump and Republican Christians.
“So much depends on seeking leaders who walk in the way of humility and decency. I just can’t imagine that that requires of you be anywhere near this president or what the Republican party has become,” he said.
Buttigieg has not been quiet about his faith during his campaign, which has lit up the “religious left,” an oft-ignored section of the Democratic party.
“Progressives all over the country are challenging the fundamentalists’ stranglehold on what it means to be a Christian,” said a gay member of a Baptist church in an opinion piece on CNN. “And in Buttigieg, we have an amazing role model whose mere existence as a gay Christian running for president inspires me.”
Cautioning that Trump seeks wealth and power over humility, Buttigieg has also called the president’s faith into question in previous interviews. “I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president’s actions and believe that they’re the actions of somebody who believes in God.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Staff
Video courtesy: ©CNN
Mikaela Mathews is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas, TX. She was the editor of a local magazine and a contributing writer for the Galveston Daily News and Spirit Magazine. She blogs at mikaelamathews.com.
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