Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg questioned the objective of Republican 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' recent anti-LGBTQ campaign ad.
On Sunday, Buttigieg commented on the Republican lawmaker's video that targeted former United States President Donald Trump, claiming that the Republican businessman "did more than any other Republican to celebrate" pride month.
Pete Buttigieg Criticizes Ron DeSantis' Anti-LGBTQ Ad
The campaign ad began by citing Trump's 2016 Republican National Convention pledge, where the former president committed to protecting LGBTQ citizens. It then showed previous interview responses from Trump regarding the subject. The video abruptly transitions to clips of commentators that criticized DeSantis' policies for targeting those same citizens.
The meme-filled video campaign ad depicts fictional serial killer Patrick Bateman from the show "American Psycho" in a positive light and also shows a bodybuilder posing on stage. Buttigieg said in an interview that DeSantis' video ad was "ventur[ing] into homophobic territory."
In his statement, the transportation secretary was careful about his words, saying that it was because he was appearing as secretary. Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet member, expressed his skepticism that the Florida governor's ad had any real value, as per Rolling Stone.
Buttigieg said he would leave the "strangeness" of the video campaign aside, where DeSantis was trying to prove his manhood by splicing images of him between oiled-up, shirtless bodybuilders. After watching the video, he added that the bigger issue he was thinking about was who the Florida governor was trying to help.
The transportation secretary questioned who DeSantis is trying to make better off and what public policy problems he thinks about solving every morning when he gets up. The situation comes as the Florida governor has sought to expand the "Don't Say Gay" law prohibiting kindergarten through third-grade educators from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity.
DeSantis has claimed that the legislation was designed to prevent the supposed "indoctrination" of students and has led to school districts scrambling to figure out which seemingly innocuous actions were now illegal. It has also made teachers afraid for their job security and students' safety.
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Anti-LGBTQ Policies
Buttigieg also said that he could not understand the mentality of someone who would get up in the morning would think that he could prove his worth by proving who can make life hardest for an already hard-hit community, which he claims is also so vulnerable in the United States, according to Yahoo News.
The recent video campaign ad released by the "DeSantis War Room" Twitter account caused anger to some within the Republican Party as well. This includes Log Cabin Republicans, which are those who represent LGBT conservatives.
In a Twitter post on Friday, the Log Cabin Republicans said that conservatives understand that they need to protect the county's children, preserve women's sports, safeguard women's spaces, and strengthen parental rights. However, it noted that DeSantis' extreme rhetoric was going too far.
The campaign's rapid response director, Christina Pushaw, defended the video ad as a mere critique of the federal recognition of Pride Month and the "poison" that is "identity politics," said The Daily Beast.
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