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Pete Buttigieg on Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'Emasculate' Comment

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Pete Buttigieg

The anti-LGBTQ+ congresswoman said Buttigieg is trying to "emasculate the way we drive" by promoting electric vehicles. Buttigieg replied that masculinity doesn't depend on what you drive.

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Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg had a great comeback for U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's comment that he's trying to "emasculate the way we drive."

Greene, the Republican conspiracy-monger from Georgia, made the remark with all its homophobic implications Saturday at a rally in Michigan for Donald Trump. "Democrats like Pete Buttigieg want to emasculate the way we drive and force all of you to rely on electric vehicles," she said.

Buttigieg, the first out gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, responded to Greene Tuesday during an interview with Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto.

"I literally don't even understand what that means," Buttigieg told Cavuto. "My sense of manhood is not connected to whether or not my vehicle is fueled by gasoline or whether it's fueled by electricity."

"It was a strange thing to say," he added. "You know, to be honest, there are other members of Congress that I pay more attention to when I'm thinking about opinions that really matter or ideas that are going to be critical to engage with."

Greene has often aimed anti-LGBTQ+ taunts at Buttigieg. For instance, at a so-called Save America rally in March, she said bizarrely, "Pete Buttigieg can take his electric vehicles and his bicycles, and he and his husband can stay out of our girls' bathrooms."

Buttigieg responded on the Yahoo! News Skullduggery podcast by saying, "The reason you hear somebody like that making nonsensical, literally nonsensical comments like that -- I don't know what you'd do with an electric vehicle in any bathroom -- they don't want to talk about what we're actually working on. So they're going to keep tripling down on anything that can divide and demonize and demoralize, and through that capture attention."

Greene made more headlines recently with the news that her husband of 27 years, Perry Greene, has filed for divorce. In asking the media to respect the couple's privacy, she couldn't resist making the remark that "our society is formed by a husband and wife creating a family to nurture and protect." She has always been against marriage rights for anyone other than straight couples.

Related: 11 Times Marjorie Taylor Greene Was the Worst

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.