2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Hillicon Valley: FBI, DHS warn that foreign hackers will likely spread disinformation around election results | Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day | Trump to meet with Republican state officials on tech liability shield MORE said Saturday that the Trump administration is “not proud” of some of its controversial policies affecting the LGBTQ community.

Buttigieg, who is gay, told a crowd in Des Moines, Iowa, at an LGBTQ pride event that the White House does not have an answer as to whether gay people can be fired for their sexual orientation.

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“They’ve got no answer because even they are not proud of their position,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “They are not proud of what they’re doing.”

The Justice Department argued in 2017 that Title VII anti-discrimination protections do not cover sexual orientation, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, another federal agency, filed a brief in a Supreme Court case supporting the plaintiff who said he was fired from his job after he revealed he was gay.

Buttigieg also hammered the State and Health and Human Services departments. The South Bend, Ind., mayor accused the agencies of preventing same-sex couples from adopting children internationally and blocking transgender Americans from having access to health care.

“I think most people at the State Department are not proud of that,” he said. “Most professionals working in health care, even in this government, are not proud of that.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on Buttigieg's remarks.

Buttigieg has refrained from making his sexual orientation a centerpiece of his campaign, but he has acknowledged the historic nature of his potential nomination and noted that he did not see prominent politicians who represented him while he was growing up.

Several other presidential candidates are scheduled to speak at Saturday's festivities to honor Pride Month. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Suburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits MORE (D-N.Y.) was spotted bartending at a local gay bar in Des Moines on Friday night.