In an interview with Axios HBO, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said that “statistically” it makes sense that “we’ve probably had excellent presidents who were gay — we just didn’t know which ones.”
The comment came when Buttigieg was asked to respond to his critics who say he is “too young” or “too gay” to be commander-in-chief.
“Republicans claimed that John Kerry was a traitor in Vietnam. That Barack Obama was a Muslim,” said Axios’ Mike Allen. “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?”
“I’ll respond by explaining where I want to lead this country,” Buttigieg responded. “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.”
“You believe that we’ve had a gay commander-in-chief?” Allen asked.
“I mean, statistically, it’s almost certain,” said Buttigieg.
“In your reading of history, do you believe you know who they were?” Allen pressed.
The mayor responded: “My gaydar even doesn’t work that well in the present, let alone retroactively. But one can only assume that’s the case.”
