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Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg swiped his fellow presidential candidate, Beto O’Rourke, claiming he does not really understand the implications of his latest policy pitch.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Buttigieg countered O’Rourke and said religious institutions who do not support homosexual marriage should not lose their tax-exempt status.
“I agree that anti-discrimination law ought to be applied to all institutions, but the idea you are going to strip churches of their tax-exempt status if they haven’t found their way toward blessing same-sex marriage, I’m not sure he understood the implications of what he was saying,” Buttigieg said per the Washington Examiner.
“If we want to talk about anti-discrimination law for a school or an organization, absolutely. They should not be able to discriminate,” the South Bend mayor continued. “But going after the tax exemption of churches, Islamic centers, or other religious facilities in this country, I think that’s just going to deepen the divisions we are already experiencing.”
Watch:
Pete Buttigieg says he disagrees with fellow 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke on using tax-exempt status to reinforce anti-discrimination laws with religious institutions: “I think that’s just going to deepen the divisions that we’re already experiencing.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/8DOR9yZRpL
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 13, 2019
O’Rourke initially pitched the radical proposal at CNN’s LGBTQ Town Hall where he said: “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights, and the full civil rights of every single one of us. And so as president, we’re going to make that a priority, and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon human rights.”
Beto O’Rourke on religious institutions losing tax-exempt status for opposing same-sex marriage: "There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone … that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us" #EqualityTownHall pic.twitter.com/tjwVGqv5h0
— CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2019