Buttigieg: ‘I Don’t Want to Hear Thoughts and Prayers’ from Those Demonizing LGBTQ Community

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday on “CBS Mornings” that he did not want thoughts and prayers from those who demonize the LGBTQ community after the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and 25 injured.

Co-host Tony Dokoupil said, “Buttigieg is the highest-ranking openly gay man in the Biden administration, and he told us he believes that political rhetoric is providing fuel for violence.”

Buttigieg said, “There has always been a relationship between the social and political demonization of a group and that group’s vulnerability to being physically attacked, and it is completely unacceptable. And I don’t want to hear thoughts and prayers from somebody who has been actively singling out this group for hate, fear, and whether they say so or not, ultimately, for violence.”

Dokoupil said, “According to the FBI, about 20% of hate crimes in 2020, the last year, there are numbers are related to sexual orientation.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN