Buttigieg Faces Backlash from Christmas Tweet
Brynn Anderson / AP
We ran the numbers: There are 280 news articles covering this topic. 11% (30) are left leaning, 27% (75) center, 62% (175) right leaning.
On Christmas day, Democratic candidate and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg tweeted, “Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee. No matter where or how we celebrate, merry Christmas." The tweet received backlash, mostly from conservative Christians.
A left-leaning article by The Washington Post highlights that the backlash Buttigieg received from conservative Christians reveals that the debate about the meaning of Christianity is relevant to the 2020 election. The article notes that criticism of other Democratic candidates on the left who discuss their faith, such as Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former vice president Joe Biden, come from those who find left-leaning interpretations of Christianity problematic.
The Hill published a centrist-leaning article reporting that over the Christmas holidays, Buttigieg’s presidential campaign announced a new fundraising contest: who can give Buttigieg the lowest contribution. Many believe that the effect of the contest is to lower Buttigieg’s average donation amount, which comes just days after Buttigieg faced criticism from fellow Democrats at Thursday’s Democratic debate over a fundraiser he held in a wine cave. The article does not mention Buttigieg’s Christmas tweet.
A right-leaning article by The Daily Caller reports that Twitter users responded to Buttigieg’s tweet by stating that Jesus was not a refugee and was born in Bethlehem because his father and mother traveled to the city for a census. Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh tweeted, “In no sense did Jesus ‘come into this world as a refugee.’ There’s also no reason to think that Joseph was particularly impoverished.”
From the left
Backlash to Pete Buttigieg’s Christmas tweet and the religious divide it exposes
Washington Post