Pete Buttigieg hits back at Rush Limbaugh after homophobic comments about mayor kissing husband

'And I am saddened for what the Republican Party has become if they embrace that kind of homophobic rhetoric'

Pete Buttigieg isn’t taking “lectures on family values” from conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Mr Buttigieg, a Democratic presidential hopeful, has responded to Mr Limbaugh’s on-air claim that the former South Bend, Indiana mayor’s youth and sexual orientation would be rejected by voters come election day.

“A gay guy, 37-years-old, loves kissing his husband on debate stages,” Mr Limbaugh said. “Can you see Trump have fun with that?”

Sebastian Gorka, a fan President Donald Trump who briefly worked at the White House, suggested that Mr Buttigieg’s sexuality should exclude him from discussing abortion.

“Why is that homosexual man lecturing us about the sanctity of life in the womb? Just a little curious there, strange,” Mr Gorka said.

Mr Buttigieg appeared on Fox News Sunday over the weekend and brushed off the criticism when asked for a response to the comments by host Chris Wallace.

“I am in a faithful, loving and committed marriage. I’m proud of my marriage. And I’m proud of my husband,” he said. “And I’m not going to be lectured on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh or anybody who supports Donald J Trump as the moral as well as political leader of the United States. America has moved on and we should have politics of belonging that welcomes everybody. That’s what the American people are for.”

Mr Buttigieg rejected the notion that his sexuality could derail his electoral ambitions.

“I came out during a general election in South Bend, and this was at a time when Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana and we didn’t know what would happen,” Mr Buttigieg said. “I tell you what happened: I got reelected with 80 per cent of the vote.”

Mr Buttigieg then expressed his sadness for the state of the Republican party.

“And I am saddened for what the Republican Party has become if they embrace that kind of homophobic rhetoric.”

Mr Trump doesn’t fully agree that America “isn’t ready” to vote for a homosexual man.

Fox News reported that during a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera on Cleveland’s Newsradio WTAM, Mr Trump was asked if he thought the American people would vote for a gay candidate.

“I think so,” Mr Trump said. “I think there would be some that wouldn’t. I wouldn’t be among that group, to be honest with you.”

Senator Lindsay Graham, a staunch ally of Mr Trump, agreed with the president’s perspective.

“It’s a miscalculation as to where the country is at,” Mr Graham said. “I think the country is not going to disqualify somebody because of their sexual orientation.”

Mr Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during the State of the Union address earlier this month. He was recently diagnosed with advanced stage lung cancer.