Pete Buttigieg hits back at Trump saying his marriage never entailed sending 'hush money to a porn star'

• Pete Buttigieg defended his marriage and condemned Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh during a CNN town hall in Nevada on Tuesday evening.
• Responding to Limbaugh's comment that "America's still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage," Buttigieg criticized the controversial radio host, who is in his fourth marriage, and the president, who has been married three times, for effusing "family values."
• "I mean, sorry, but one thing about my marriage is it's never involved me having to send hush money to a porn star after cheating on my spouse," Buttigieg said, invoking Trump's $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to prevent their alleged affair from coming to light.
• Buttigieg is the United States' first openly gay presidential candidate and has been married to his husband, Chase, for two years.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg took aim at Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh during a CNN town hall in Nevada on Tuesday evening.

Host Erin Burnett asked the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is openly gay, to respond to comments made by the controversial radio host-turned-Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient about the United States "still not [being] ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president."

Buttigieg first scorned "the idea of the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Donald Trump lecturing anybody on family values."

He added: "I mean, sorry, but one thing about my marriage is it's never involved me having to send hush money to a porn star after cheating on my spouse." Challenging the pair, Buttigieg also said, "If they want to debate family values, let's debate family values. I'm ready."

Buttigieg's comments revived the scandal surrounding Trump's $130,000 payment to stop adult film star Stormy Daniels from disclosing their alleged affair. Trump's long-time fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, shelled out the money just 10 days before the 2016 presidential election. This move followed the leaking of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape that sent shockwaves throughout the political world, in which Trump gloated about grabbing women "by the p----."

Buttigieg has featured Chasten, his husband of two years, in campaign appearances and promotional materials. His sexual orientation became a point of contention after Limbaugh, who has been been married four times and divorced three, told "The Rush Limbaugh Show" listeners that the Democratic presidential candidate, who claimed victory in Iowa, was unlikely to defeat Trump and become the next commander-in-chief of the United States.

Limbaugh said that the Democratic party leadership is "sitting there and they're looking at Mayor Pete, a 37-year-old gay guy, mayor of South Bend, loves to kiss his husband on the debate stage. And they're saying, 'Okay. How's that going to look, a 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to Mr. Man, Donald Trump? What's gonna happen there?'"

He continued: "They gotta be looking at that. They've gotta be saying that despite all the great progress and despite all the great wokeness and despite all the great ground that's been covered, America's still not ready to elect a gay guy kissing his husband on the debate stage president. They have to be saying this, don't they?"

Buttigieg addressed Limbaugh's remarks on CNN's "State of the Union" on February 16, saying, "I love my husband. I'm faithful to my husband. On stage, we usually just go for a hug. But I love him very much, and I'm not going take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh."

For his part, Limbaugh said Trump, who is "such a nice guy," called to stop him from walking back his comments about Buttigieg.

"He said 'Rush, I just got to tell you something. Never apologize, don't ever --' and I said, 'For what?'" said Limbaugh, indicating that he had no idea his statements about Buttigieg had sparked a controversy.

Read more:

Rush Limbaugh says Trump told him not to apologize for his comments about Pete Buttigieg's sexuality

Pete Buttigieg said he's 'not going to take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh,' after the conservative personality made comments about his sexuality

Limbaugh draws bipartisan condemnation for Buttigieg remarks