Out presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says he would like to broker a “peace deal” between the notoriously homophobic fast food chain Chick-fil-A and the LGBTQ community.
During an interview on the hip-hop radio show The Breakfast Club, Buttigieg stressed his ability to bring people together – and used Chick-fil-A as an example.
“I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken,” he told the hosts. “Maybe, if nothing else, I can build that bridge. Maybe I’ll become in a position to broker that peace deal.”
“We’ve got to find a way to use our identities to reach other people,” Buttigieg said. “What can we talk about that brings us together?”
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Related: Chick-fil-A gave over $1.8 million to anti-LGBTQ groups according to recent tax returns
“Because I have no clue what it’s like to walk in the shoes of so many other people. But I can talk about some of the pieces of what I carry with me and see if it rhymes with their life experience.”
“Good art has that. Good music has that. Good literature has that,” he said.
“Good chicken sandwiches,” cohost Charlamagne tha God quipped in response.
The fast food chain has come under fire again after it was revealed they have continued to donate millions of dollars to anti-LGBTQ organizations despite promising to avoid donating to groups with “political agendas.”
CEO Dan Cathy told a newspaper in 2012 that the company was “guilty as charged” of making anti-LGBTQ donations and said that marriage equality proponents “have the audacity to define what marriage is about” and were “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.”
Chick-fil-a has spent years trying to downplay these donations, saying that they “will treat every person equally, regardless of sexual orientation” and that the company’s charity arm “is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas.”
Earlier this week, the San Antonio city council voted against allowing Chick-fil-A to open a franchise in the local airport due to the ongoing donations.
The little known out gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg has surged in popularity lately, now coming in third in Iowa polling, just behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
