The possible 2028 presidential candidate suggested men could be easily persuaded to vote Democrat since 'the MAGA folks aren’t looking out for their best interests – they want to ban porn.'
(LifeSiteNews) -- Rumored 2028 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is drawing flak from social conservatives for suggesting that Democrats can win back American male voters by appealing to their base desires.
Buttigieg was on The Bulwark podcast with former Jeb Bush campaign adviser turned progressive commentator Tim Miller. Miller, like Buttigieg, is “married” to another man.
Miller brought up the fact that Democrats recently spent $20 million on a study titled "Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.” Miller found the study comical and wanted Buttigieg’s take on it.
“Everybody is scratching around the same problem. They’re asking the right questions,” Buttigieg said at first. But he quickly tried to change the subject by stating that “we have a way of always fighting the last war … I hope we can do a little more though skating to where the puck is going.”
Miller pressed Buttigieg for more specifics. He said he is puzzled why “the bros” voted for Trump when they could have easily been persuaded to vote Democrat, especially because “the MAGA folks aren’t looking out for their best interests – they want to ban porn.”
Buttigieg replied by making a reference to House Speaker Republican Mike Johnson, who is known for having conservative political views
“Of course, we should be talking about how, if Speaker Johnson got his way, it wouldn't be possible not just for gay people to get married but for straight people to get divorced, let alone birth control.”
Buttigieg then stated that Johnson wants to “regulate porn or whatever, most people would have a problem with (that).”
Katy Faust from The Federalist was one of many social media users who hit back at Buttigieg’s remark.
“I don't think middle-aged and boomer politicians understand how hyper traditional the young generation has become. They don't want gay marriage or divorce or hormonal birth control or porn,” she shared on X.
William Wolfe, executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, likewise criticized Buttigieg for being out of touch.
“Gay marriage. Birth control. Divorce. Porn. That’s what two homosexual men suggest the Democrats need to protect in order to attract young men to their political party. Good luck recruiting for your death cult,” he said in an X post.
Polling data from the 2024 presidential election shows more than half of men under 30 voted for Trump. Pundits believe Trump’s many appearances on a number of podcasts, done at the urging of his youngest son, Barron, helped him win their support. Other evidence suggests young males also support traditional gender roles.
In 2024, a University of Notre Dame graduate launched a non-profit aimed at helping college-age men break their addiction to pornography. Josh Haskell’s Ethos National began on the school’s campus in South Bend, Indiana, but has grown in demand to the point where he is bringing it to other colleges as well.
More than a dozen states across the U.S. have enacted age-verification laws over the past year that have had the effect of forcing porn sites to shut down altogether, including Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, Kentucky, Utah, Arkansas, and Virginia.
