2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who BuzzFeed notes is “the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major party,” criticized boycotters of Chick-fil-A for being “too sanctimonious,” and accused them of “virtue signaling.”
“I just want to make sure we don’t overrate ourselves in terms of our ability to be pure in this regard,” declared Buttigieg in an interview with BuzzFeed News, Wednesday. “If you’re turned off, as I am, by the political behavior of Chick-fil-A or their executives — if that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, so to speak, and you decide not to shop there, I’d certainly get it and I’d support that. But the reality is, we, I think, sometimes slip into a sort of virtue signaling in some cases where we’re not really being consistent. I mean, what about all the other places we get our chicken from?”
“I just want to make sure that we’re not too sanctimonious about this, because sometimes we put ourselves in this position of judgment that doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny,” he continued. “My belief is that we should primarily deal with political issues in the political arena.”
In another interview on the Breakfast Club, Tuesday, Buttigieg also proclaimed, “I do not approve of their politics… but I kind of approve of their chicken.”
Buttigieg, who is currently the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, announced his 2020 presidential campaign in January.
Chick-fil-A remains a hot button political issue. The city of San Antonio recently voted to block the company from opening a location in its airport. A city councilman proclaimed, “with this decision, the City Council reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion.”
Rider University also blocked Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant on its campus, saying the company has “not sufficiently progressed enough.” As Breitbart News reported this month:
Cynthia Newman, the dean of Rider University’s College of Business, announced that she would be resigning from her post because of the administration’s decision to keep Chick-fil-A off campus. In a statement, Newman announced that the decision conflicted with her Christian beliefs.
“As some of you already know, I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ,” Newman wrote in her statement. “As such, I endeavor every day to do exactly what Chick-fil-A puts forward as its overarching corporate value: to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to me and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with me.”
Breitbart News will continue to report on Chick-fil-A and its virtue signaling boycotters.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter, or like his page at Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.