Pete Buttigieg Doesn't Understand Senators' Reluctance to Support Marriage Protection: 'Vote Yes and Move On'
DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Pete Buttigieg
Since the House passed the Democrat-introduced Respect for Marriage Act with the support of 47 Republicans last week, advocates for codifying same-sex marriage rights at the federal level are now looking at the Senate to pass the bill — Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg among them.
At least 10 Republican senators will need to side with all 50 Democrats in order to meet the 60-vote threshold to enact the legislation. A handful of GOP senators have expressed support for the bill while others have said they're not interested.
Florida Republican Marco Rubio, for example, called the bill "a stupid waste of time."
Buttigieg, the first openly gay cabinet-level official to serve in any administration, offered a suggestion for the dismissive senators during an interview Sunday.
"If they don't want to spend a lot of time on this, they can vote yes and move on," Buttigieg, who shares two kids with his husband Chasten Buttigieg, told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union. "That would be really reassuring for a lot of families around America, including mine."
Buttigieg also said he was confused about why some Republicans would be so reluctant to support the legislation.
RELATED: What to Know About the 'Respect for Marriage Act' as D.C. Lawmakers Rush to Codify Same-Sex Marriage
"I don't understand, because such a majority of House Republicans voted no on our marriage as recently as Tuesday, hours after I was in a room with a lot of them talking about transportation policy, having what I thought were perfectly normal conversations with many of them on that subject, only for them to go around the corner and say that my marriage doesn't deserve to continue."
"If he's got time to fight against Disney, I don't know why he wouldn't have time to safeguard marriages like mine."@PeteButtigieg reacts to some GOP senators saying they will vote against a bill that is meant to codify protections for same-sex marriage. @CNNSotu#CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/Le9OSepeW6
— CNN (@CNN) July 24, 2022
A father of 11-month-old twins Joseph "Gus" August and Penelope Rose, Buttigieg spoke about what his marriage means for his family.
"I started my day as I try to do on weekends — I try to give Chasten a little bit of a break and do breakfast with both of our twins," he said. "That alone, that's no small thing as every parent of small kids knows."
The secretary added that it was "one of those days" when he had his hands full preparing formula, cereal and bananas for his children to eat in their highchairs.
Pete Buttigieg/Twitter Chasten (left) and Pete Buttigieg and their kids
"That half hour of my morning had me thinking about how much I depend on and count on my spouse every day. And our marriage deserves to be treated equally. And I don't know why this would be hard."
When Tapper asked Buttigieg about Rubio's comment, the secretary referenced a dispute over Walt Disney World's status in Florida after the parent company that owns the theme park expressed opposition to the state law that opponents have denounced as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which restricts mention of LGBTQ+ topics in schools.
"If he's got time to fight against Disney," Buttigieg said, "I don't know why he wouldn't have time to help safeguard marriages like mine. This is really, really important to a lot of people. It's certainly important to me."
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Rubio responded Sunday night, saying in a video posted to Twitter that the "Disney fight was a state fight," and taking a swipe at Buttigieg because, the senator claimed, "He never learned the difference between the state level and the federal level."
"Working Americans, of every background, struggle with real problems like gas prices & flight cancellations," Rubio wrote in his tweet. "We have a Transportation Secretary who wants us to focus on a fake problem."