U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg took a sharp aim at JD Vance, who is the former President Donald Trump’s vice-presidential pick. He was talking on this week’s Real Time with Bill Maher. Speaking as a campaign surrogate and not in his official capacity, Buttigieg delivered a pointed critique of Vance’s rapid ascent in politics. Buttigieg also delved into the role of Peter Thiel, the openly gay tech billionaire and PayPal co-founder, in Vance’s political journey. He highlighted the stark contradictions within the Republican Party, particularly out gay Thiel’s support for Vance despite his stance against marriage equality. Buttigieg remarked that Thiel is backing a candidate who opposes the very rights he embodies. Buttigieg said, “I know there are a lot of folks who say, ‘What’s going on with some of these Silicon Valley folks veering into Trump world with JD Vance and backing Trump? Silicon Valley… they’re supposed to care about climate. They’re supposed to be pro-science and rational and libertarians. So, normally, libertarians don’t like the authoritarians. What’s up with that?’” Then he summarized the situation aptly, saying, “We’ve made it way too complicated. It’s super simple. These are very rich men who have decided to back the Republican party that tends to do good things for very rich men.”
