Buttigieg blasts ‘hypocrisy’ of evangelicals for supporting Trump

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and likely 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, on Sunday criticized what he called “hypocrisy” among evangelical Christians who support President Trump.

Buttigieg, who is a Christian, said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Trump “acts in a way” that is inconsistent with what he hears in church.

{mosads}”It’s something that really frustrates me because the hypocrisy is unbelievable,” he said of evangelical support for Trump. “Here you have somebody who not only acts in a way that is not consistent with anything that I hear in scripture or in church, where it’s about lifting up the least among us and taking care of strangers, which is another word for immigrants, and making sure that you’re focusing your effort on the poor.”

“But also personally how you’re supposed to conduct yourself,” he added, saying that Trump is at odds with a religion that calls for “humbling yourself before others.”

Buttigieg added that he’s surprised conservative Christians support Trump despite the fact that he was “caught writing hush money checks to adult-film actresses,” a reference to payments Trump’s attorney made during the 2016 campaign to quiet allegations by Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal that they had affairs with Trump.

“Even on the version of Christianity that you hear from the religious right, which is about sexual ethics, I can’t believe that somebody who was caught writing hush money checks to adult-film actresses is somebody they should be lifting up as the kind of person you want to be leading this nation,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg’s remarks come after he said last week that it’s hard for him to believe that Trump believes in God.

“I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith,” Buttigieg told USA Today. “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.”