Jeanine Santucci | USA TODAY

AP, AP

Presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg are clashing on their ideas for the Supreme Court.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Buttigieg said one of his goals would be to have more justices "who think for themselves," floating former Justice Anthony Kennedy as an example. Kennedy, known as a swing voter in major dividing issues, retired last year, allowing the president to appoint Brett Kavanaugh and establish conservative control of the court.

Sanders, however, says he would prefer more liberal judges.

"Interesting, I'd like more justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor," Sanders tweeted.

Interesting, I’d like more justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. https://t.co/zfv9U0Liut — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 24, 2019

Kennedy was a right-of-center justice, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan. Significant to his legacy is the fact that he swung majority votes on the side of certain LGBTQ protections, including same-sex marriage legalization in 2015.

Buttigieg, who is the only gay candidate for president, said in the interview that he'd like to "stop the descent of the Supreme Court into becoming yet another political body."

"As you know, it’s especially important for LGBTQ rights, but it’s important for access to abortion and many other issues too," Buttigieg said. "When I look at the Supreme Court, I can’t help but remember that my marriage only exists by the grace of a single vote in that body."

"This is not about making sure that it agrees with me on everything. My appointments will definitely be people who share my values," Buttigieg added.

Buttigieg has been campaigning on his plans to restructure the Supreme Court, and says one of his top priorities is to establish a commission with the directive to "make the Supreme Court less political." He has floated the idea of having 15 justices, instead of nine, and implementing term limits.

"Right now, every time there’s a vacancy, there’s this apocalyptic ideological battle and it hurts the court and it hurts the country," Buttigieg said.

A member of Buttigieg's campaign team, Sean Savett, chimed in on the backlash to Buttigieg's remarks on Twitter. "To be clear: Pete has consistently said he would appoint Justices to the Supreme Court who share his progressive values. Kennedy was not such a Justice," Savett said.