Pete Buttigieg Calls Mike Pence “Cheerleader Of The Porn Star Presidency” At SXSW CNN Town Hall [VIDEO]

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg blasted Vice President Mike Pence in a CNN town hall event in Austin, Texas on Sunday, while also taking a jab at one of President Donald Trump‘s scandals.

The 37-year-old Democrat called Pence the “cheerleader of the porn star presidency.” Buttigieg was asked by moderator Jake Tapper if he believed Pence would be a better president than Trump.

“How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency?” Buttigieg asked of Pence at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. “Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started believing in Donald Trump? I don’t know.”

Buttigieg appeared to refer to Trump’s infamous extramarital affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, with whom he has been locked in a heated legal dispute. The Democrat drew loud applause for his response to Tapper’s question.

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“My understanding of scripture, it’s about protecting the stranger and the prisoner and the poor person and that idea. That’s what I get in the gospel when I’m in church. And his has a lot more to do with sexuality and a certain view of rectitude,” Buttigieg added of Pence at the town hall event.

Although Buttigieg has not formally announced a 2020 presidential run, he is expected to announce a bid in the coming days. He set up a presidential exploratory committee earlier this year.

Should he enter the crowded race for president in 2020, Buttigieg would not only be one of the youngest candidates, but also the Democratic Party’s first openly gay contender. Buttigieg has repeatedly lambasted Pence, who is notoriously anti-gay.

Buttigieg also recently said Pence “embarrassed” Indiana while serving as the state’s governor from 2013-2017.

“His worldview is one that is way out of step with the American mainstream,” Buttigieg told CNN last month. “And we saw that in Indiana when he really embarrassed our state with policies that both Democrats and Republicans, in not just the political world but the business community, stepped up and said, ‘Hey, you’re making us look like a backwards place in just the moment we’re trying to advance.’ And unfortunately he now has a national stage for some of those fanatical social ideas.”

Buttigieg, who has served as the mayor of South Bend since 2012, also previously worked as a consultant at management strategy consulting firm McKinsey & Company.