Pete Buttigieg Claps Back at GOP Chair's Glaring Homophobia

The co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party thought she had made a brilliant comment on Twitter on Sunday, but it was actually just some blatant homophobia aimed at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who reacted to her words yesterday.

Buttigieg said that his children will have better values than Meshawn Maddock, the Michigan Republican Party co-chair who called him a "weak little girl" earlier this week on Twitter.

"If she wants to talk about little girls, Chasten, and I are raising a little girl and a little boy. And we are raising them to have better values than the chairwoman," Buttigieg told local station WXYZ in an interview during the Detroit auto show, which reporter Ross Jones tweeted out.

Buttigieg is the first out cabinet secretary, former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a former officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Last August, the Buttigieges announced they had adopted twins, and their children celebrated their first birthday recently.

In a tweet on Sunday afternoon, Maddock shared a video of Buttigieg discussing California's plan to ban gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035 and advocating for a transition to electric vehicles. However, she couldn't resist sprinkling in a little bit of homophobia.

"We're so blessed this weak little girl moved to Michigan," Maddock wrote in her tweet about the video. "Looks like he's bringing all his California Dreaming here with him."

Democrats and some Republicans immediately condemned Maddock's remarks as homophobic.

Republican Michigan state Rep. Jack O'Malley took to his Facebook page to call Maddock out.

"When I saw this tweet, I was disgusted," he wrote. "I mean, we are in an era of name calling and disrespect. It needs to stop. Disagreeing is one thing but insults and slurs...enough."

The Buttigiege's recently moved to Traverse City, from where Chasten hails, from South Bend.