WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 23: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigeig speaks during a news conference January 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Buttigeig held a news conference to announce that he is forming an exploratory committee to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Openly gay politician Pete Buttigieg, mayor of the Indiana city of South Bend, has called US Vice President Mike Pence a “cheerleader for the porn star presidency.”

Democrat Buttigieg, who previously worked with Mike Pence when he was governor of Indiana, also questioned the vice-president’s faith as a Christian at CNN’s town hall on Sunday (March 10).

The 37-year-old politician, who has been mayor of South Bend since 2012, said: “How would he allow himself to become the cheerleader for the porn star presidency? Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started believing Donald Trump?

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Later on at the CNN event, Buttigieg said that he “used to at least believe” that Pence “believes in our institutions and was not personally corrupt, but then how could he get on board with this president?”

Pete Buttigieg criticises Mike Pence for supporting US president Donald Trump

“His interpretation of scripture is pretty different than mine to begin with,” continued Buttigieg, reports CNN.

“My understanding of scripture is that it’s about protecting the stranger and the prisoner and the poor person and that idea.

“How would he allow himself to become the cheerleader for the porn star presidency?” —Pete Buttigieg

“That’s what I get in the gospel when I’m at church and his has a lot more to do with sexuality … and a certain view of rectitude.”

Pete Buttigieg could become America’s first openly gay president

In January, Buttigieg, who publicly came out as gay in 2015, announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination for president.

If elected, he would become America’s first openly gay president.

The Afghanistan veteran who married his husband, teacher Chasten Glezman, last year, emphasised his youth and progressive nature in a video launching his 2020 presidential campaign.

In the video, Buttigieg said: “I belong to a generation that is stepping forward right now.

“We’re the generation that lived through school shootings, that served in the wars after 9/11, and we’re the generation that stands to be the first to make less than our parents unless we do something different.”