South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg claimed there is reason to believe the Bible teaches that life does not begin until a baby first draws breath.
During a wide-ranging interview Friday on the radio show The Breakfast Club, hosted by Lenard “Charlamagne tha God” McKelvey, Buttigieg reiterated his recent claim that “a reckoning” is looming for evangelicals who support President Trump and the Republican Party.
“The GOP’s got to deal with the fact that they have come on board with a president that is completely against not just our values, but their own,” Buttigieg said, going on to criticize Vice President Mike Pence for supporting Trump despite having “rigid, traditional sexual ethics.”
The Democratic candidate then explained his belief that the Republican Party also ignores the New Testament’s admonitions to help the poor and heal the sick.
“Every other word that comes out of the mouth of Christ is about things like helping those in need, and you’ve got a Republican Party dedicated to its opposite,” he said. “There will be a reckoning over that.”
Buttigieg then pivoted to scold Republicans for their views on abortion, saying, “Right now, they hold everybody in line with this one piece of doctrine about abortion.” Acknowledging the moral complexity of the issue, he qualified, “Then again, there’s a lot of parts of the Bible that talk about how life begins with breath. So even that is something we can interpret differently.”
Both Buttigieg and McKelvey agreed that, in any case, only women should make that decision, with McKelvey admitting he has gotten the wrong woman pregnant “a few” times.
Buttigieg’s comments are an apparent attempt to throw theological weight behind the Democratic Party’s growing inclination to push life increasingly later past the point of conception. Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Virginia state Del. Kathy Tran ignited a firestorm in February when they seemingly advocated for legal abortion up to, and even past the point of birth.
Some have criticized Buttigieg for his continual use of Christian terminology to support his liberal political and social policies. Fox News host Tucker Carlson characterized him as a hypocritical moralizer on his Thursday show, dubbing him “Father Pete” and explaining how he flies private jets more than any other candidate, despite the fervor with which he condemns pollution.
Buttigieg’s brother-in-law, evangelical pastor Rhyan Glezman, told the Washington Examiner in May that the presidential candidate has misused even his husband’s family history for political advantage, and warned that “a lot of the liberal side of things are becoming the bigots to Christianity and faith.”
