Mayor Pete Buttigieg (Getty Images/Alex Wong)

(CNSNews.com) — South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay Democrat who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, said that President Donald Trump’s actions indicate he is not “somebody who believes in God.” Buttigieg, however, has been criticized for backing away from his view that “all lives matter,” and for stopping a pro-life group from opening an office.

“I would say it is hard to look at this president's actions and believe that they're the actions of somebody who believes in God,” Buttigieg told USA Today on April 3rd.

In his USA Today interview, Buttigieg says he doesn’t believe Trump’s actions reflect the Christian behavior:

“I'm reluctant to comment on another person's faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president's actions and believe that they're the actions of somebody who believes in God… I just don't understand how you can be as worshipful of your own self as he is and be prepared to humble yourself before God. I've never seen him humble himself before anyone. And the exaltation of yourself, especially a self that's about wealth and power, could not be more at odds with at least my understanding of the teachings of the Christian faith.”

Back in 2015, while giving the State of the City address as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg stated “all lives matter.” But, as Fox News reports, he recently apologized for that statement. During the National Action Network convention in New York, Buttigieg told reporters:

“What I did not understand at that time was that that phrase just early, into mid-, especially 2015 was coming to be viewed as a sort of counter slogan to Black Lives Matter.”

In 2018, while Buttigieg was mayor of South Bend, a pro-life clinic sought to open next to an abortion clinic. Even though the city council approved 5-4 to allow the pro-life clinic to open, Buttigieg vetoed the decision because he did not think “it would be responsible to situate two groups, literally right next to each other, in a neighborhood, that have diametrically opposed views on the most divisive social issue of our time.”

In an interview with MSNBC in February of this year, Buttigieg expressed support for late-term abortion. Asked by Joe Scarborough if he supports more New York-style abortion laws, he responded, “We don’t need more restrictions right now.” “The involvement of a male government official, like me, is not helpful.”