Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg unloads on Mike Pence's fanaticism

Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg talks about running for president

The Democratic presidential hopeful you may have forgotten about, Pete Buttigieg, was on Thursday's Late Show, and he made his case to Stephen Colbert that as the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana (population 100,000), he's at least as qualified to be president as President Trump. "Look, it's audacious, almost obscene, for somebody my age but really any human being to think they belong in that office," Buttigieg said. But "I have more experience in government than the president, I have more executive experience than the vice president, I have more military experience than anyone to arrive at that desk since George H.W. Bush. I know it might sound a little cheeky as the young guy in the race, but largely this is about my experience."

Buttigieg, who would also be the first openly gay president, talked about coming out during a re-election campaign he then won with 80 percent of the vote in Indiana, when Vice President Mike Pence was governor. Colbert asked what it was like to work Pence. He didn't seem impressed. "If he were here, you'd think he's a nice guy to your face, but he's also just fanatical," Buttigieg said. "He really believes. I mean, he's written that cigarette don't kill, and I think he seems to think the universe was created a few thousand years ago, and that people like me get up in the morning and decide to be gay. And the thing about it is, if that was a choice, it was a choice that was made way above my pay grade. And so what he doesn't realize is that his quarrel is with my creator. My marriage has moved me closer to God, and I wish he respected that." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.