Chasten Buttigieg attacked Mike Pence's lunch with an openly-gay Irish leader, saying just because the two shared meal doesn't mean the vice president is 'any less homophobic.'

Buttigieg, the husband of Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg, criticized a tweet on Monday from deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere, who wrote anyone who thinks Pence is 'anti-gay' should look at his lunch with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner.

'I've sat at tables with people who would gladly deny me the right to marry, who openly support conversion therapy, and who adamantly believe being gay is a choice. Doesn't mean they're any less homophobic because we shared a meal,' Buttigieg wrote.

Chasten Buttigieg attacked Mike Pence's lunch with an openly-gay Irish leader, saying it doesn't make the vice president 'less homophobic'

Vice President Mike Pence met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar during his two-day trip to Ireland

Mike Pence traveled with (from left) his sister Ann Pence Poynter, mother Nancy Pence Fritsch, and wife Karen. They had lunch with Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar (second right) and his partner Matthew Bell (third right) at Farmleigh House in Dublin

Both Buttigiegs have been critical of Pence, who is the former governor of their home state of Indiana, and the anti-gay policies put in place under his administration.

The vice president has been criticized for being anti-gay and has a record of voting against LGBTQ rights. As governor, he signed legislation that made it legal for businesses to cite religious freedom when refusing services to gay people. Pence has fought reports that he supports 'conversion therapy,' which his staff says he does not.

Deere tweeted out Pence's schedule for his trip to Ireland this week and noted the sit down the vice president and Karen Pence were having with Varadkar and his partner Matthew Barrett.

'For all of you who still think our @VP is anti-gay, I point you to his and the @SecondLady's schedule tomorrow where they will join Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar and his partner Dr. Matthew Barrett for lunch in Ireland,' Deere wrote.

The Pences joined Varadkar and Barrett plus other officials for lunch Tuesday afternoon at Farmleigh House in Dublin.

Varadkar is one of a few openly gay world leaders.

The vice president is on a two-day trip to Ireland.

He brought his mother Nancy Pence Fritsch at the invitation of the Taoiseach, Pence told reporters. Pence's sister Annie also traveled with them.

Pence traces his lineage to Ireland. His maternal grandfather Richard Cawley immigrated from there to Chicago.

Additionally his grandmother is from Ireland, having been born and raised in Doonbeg of Ireland's County Clare. Extended members of Pence's family operate the Morrissey's Pub in Doonbeg, where President Donald Trump has a golf course.

'It’s deeply humbling for me to be able to come back to Ireland and have the opportunity to go to the very hometown of my mother’s grandmother. I mean, we’ll have dinner tonight at a little pub that I worked at when I was 22 years old, when I came over here shortly after my grandfather passed away. And right across the street is the house where my great grandmother grew up. She often spoke of the castle that was out of the window of her bedroom,' Pence told reporters during his trip.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar showed Vice President Mike Pence, his mother Nancy Pence-Fritsch and Second Lady Karen Pence the service records of his grandfather, Richard Michael Cawley

Mike and Karen Pence, along with his mother Nancy Pence Fritsch, had tea with Irish President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina

Varadkar showed Pence and his mother Nancy the military service record of Cawley, who served with distinction in the Irish Defence Forces during the Civil War.'

'Before lunch, the Taoiseach showed the Pences archival documents related to the Pence family in Ireland. Among them: the National Army Recruitment Register, which contains the signature of the VP's grandfather. The Taoiseach showed the VP and presented him with a framed copy of the page containing his grandfather's signature,' a White House official said of the visit.

It's not the first time Pence sat down with Varadkar and Barrett.

The vice president hosted the couple in Washington D.C. in March ahead of St. Patrick's Day.

'Vice President Mike Pence invited me and Matt to his home at the Naval Observatory this morning. It's great to be back here for a really warm reception,' Varadkar tweeted in March.

Barrett is a cardiologist based in Dublin. He and Varadkar have been a couple since 2015.

Vice President Mike Pence brought his mother Nancy Pence Fritsch with him on the trip

Chastan Buttigieg is married to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg was responding to a tweet from deputy White House press secretary Judd Deere

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (second from left) and his partner Matthew Barrett (left) during their two-day visit to Ireland

Homosexuality in Ireland was decriminalized in 1993. In 2015, Ireland voted by referendum to legalize gay marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so by popular vote.

Pete Buttigieg, the first openly-gay major presidential candidate, has criticized Pence, who served as Indiana governor while Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend.

Pence opposed gay marriage as governor.

Pete Buttigieg married Chasten Glezman on June 16, 2018 in South Bend.

Buttigieg came out as gay during his June 2015 mayoral re-election campaign, which he went on to win with 78 percent of the vote.

'If me being gay was a choice it was a choice made far, far above my pay grade,' the presidential candidate told an LGBTQ Victory Fund event in Washington D.C. in April.

'And that's the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you have a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,' he added.

Buttigieg has talked about his personal struggle with his sexuality but said the pain of his teen years gave way to joy later in his life.

Mike Pence hosted Varadkar and Barrett at the vice presidential residence in March

'My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man and, yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God,' he added.

Pence responded by saying the mayor 'knows better' than to criticize his faith and charging him with trying to win points with progressives.

'He said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally. And he knows better. He knows me,' Pence told CNBC in April.

Pence said that as governor, he 'worked very closely with Mayor Pete' and that they 'had a great working relationship.'

He pointed out as governor of the state he implemented the Supreme Court's decision that made gay marriage legal.