Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. (Getty/ Drew Angerer)
Pete Buttigieg has hit back at the co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party who called him a “weak little girl”.
Buttigieg recently moved to Michigan from Indiana with husband Chasten and their one-year-old twins.
Earlier this month Meshawn Maddock, who describes herself as “Ultra MAGA” and is on the advisory board of Women for Trump, shared a clip of transportation secretary Buttigieg discussing a California ban on new gas-powered cars in an effort to fight climate change.
She tweeted: “We’re so blessed this weak little girl moved to Michigan! Looks like he’s bringing all his California Dreaming here with him.”
We’re so blessed this weak little girl moved to Michigan! Looks like he’s bringing all his California Dreaming here with him. https://t.co/85MQNcN3f1
— meshawn maddock (@CoChairMeshawn) September 11, 2022
Maddock’s comments were immediately blasted as homophobic, with Michigan state representative Samantha Steckloff telling her: “Step down, you don’t deserve to represent anyone. Hate has no place here.”
But this week, Buttigieg addressed Maddock’s comments himself, in a putdown of epic proportions.
Speaking to local TV station WXYZ, he said: “If she wants to talk about little girls, Chasten, and I are raising a little girl and a little boy. And we are raising them to have better values than the chairwoman.”
Buttigieg’s supporter swiftly praised his dignified response to bigotry, with one writing: “Pete Buttigieg is a national treasure. I hope for him to be POTUS in the future.”
“Pete Buttigieg has more humanity and more class in either one of his middle fingers than is in the entire Republican party,” said another.
A third person tweeted: “Once again, we see Pete Buttigieg eloquently taking the high road in dealing with those who try to debase him, making them look small and weak.”
Shade is a dish best served cold…. https://t.co/yHy49SycLh
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) September 16, 2022
While the co-Chair of the Republican party is hurling homophobic and anti-woman slurs, @PeteButtigieg responds thoughtfully and respectably.
This is a microcosm of the differences between today’s Republican and Democratic parties.
Democrats are trying to build a better future. https://t.co/C6SQrMJFGN
— Jeff Irwin (@JeffMIrwin) September 15, 2022
With Republicans, outright homophobia isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. The GOP stopped identifying as the party of family values when it embraced Trump’s bigotry. @CoChairMeshawn feels comfortable calling a war veteran a gay slur because her party rewards discrimination. #VoteBlue https://t.co/YNJ4diSVRp
— Greg Buster (@Gregnus_2022) September 15, 2022
Michigan state senator Jeff Irwin added: “While the co-Chair of the Republican party is hurling homophobic and anti-woman slurs, Pete Buttigieg responds thoughtfully and respectably.
“This is a microcosm of the differences between today’s Republican and Democratic parties. Democrats are trying to build a better future.”