Pete Buttigieg says America has “probably had excellent presidents who were gay — we just didn’t know which ones.”
The Democratic presidential candidate from Indiana who maintains a strong top-tier lead in the polls sat down with Axios on HBO and was confronted with this question:
“Republicans claimed that John Kerry was a traitor in Vietnam. That Barack Obama was a Muslim. If you were to win the nomination, they’ll say you’re too young, too liberal, too gay to be commander-in-chief. You are young. You are a liberal. You are gay. How will you respond?”
Buttigieg did not flinch.
“I’ll respond by explaining where I want to lead this country,” he said. “People will elect the person who will make the best president. And we have had excellent presidents who have been young. We have had excellent presidents who have been liberal. I would imagine we’ve probably had excellent presidents who were gay — we just didn’t know which ones.”
When pushed, Buttigieg says, “statistically, it’s almost certain” there’s been a gay president.
Asked who he thinks that might be, he quips, “My gaydar even doesn’t work that well in the present, let alone retroactively. But one can only assume that’s the case.”
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