(CNN) Pete Buttigieg refused to engage when asked about a Trump administration official who accused him of pushing a "hate hoax" during a back and forth with Vice President Mike Pence.

US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell last week accused the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Democratic presidential hopeful of using the feud to further his presidential candidacy, saying it was "along the lines of Jussie Smollett."

When asked about Grennell's words during a CNN town hall Monday night, Buttigieg paused and parried.

"I'm not a master fisherman, but I know bait when I see it, and I'm not gonna take it," the mayor said to applause. Buttigieg was asked about the comments by CNN's Anderson Cooper at the event in New Hampshire.

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