Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg “overstated” his partnerships with black-owned businesses in South Carolina as he tries to improve his standing with minority voters, according to a report.

The former South Bend mayor wrote in an op-ed last week in The State, a South Carolina newspaper, that his campaign had “proudly partnered with local businesses like Diane’s Kitchen in Chester, Atlantis Restaurant in Moncks Corner and the Fair Deal Grocery on Charleston’s Eastside.”

The problem, however, is that two of those businesses denied to ABC News that they had forged any sort of partnership with the candidate.

“I stand for what I stand for and I didn’t say I had a partnership,” Diane Cole, owner of Diane’s Kitchen, told the network, adding that she only remembered welcoming Buttigieg’s campaign to her business as customers.

When Buttigieg’s team was asked for comment about Cole’s denial of a partnership, the campaign reached out to the owner and tried to persuade her to change her position to more closely match what the former mayor wrote in his op-ed, the outlet reported.

One message, which the network says was one of a series, even misspelled her name.

Cole said she told the campaign: “It sounds like you’re saying that I am your business partner. I’m only going to accept that you all stopped in while you were campaigning in South Carolina and I welcomed you all.”

“We’re proud to live our values as a campaign by holding events and spending money at Black-owned businesses in South Carolina and across the country, something we will continue to do throughout the campaign,” Buttigieg campaign spokesman Sean Savett told the network in a statement.

“Pete has put forward the most comprehensive plan for Black America, which includes investing in the growth of Black-owned businesses and supporting Black entrepreneurs,” Buttigieg campaign spokesman Sean Savett told The Post in a statement.

“We’re proud to live our values as a campaign by holding events and spending money at Black-owned businesses in South Carolina and across the country, something we will continue to do throughout the campaign.”