Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, visited Jimmy Carter's Sunday-school class in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday and then had lunch with the former president. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor said he was "humbled" to meet with Carter, who has hosted other 2020 Democratic candidates such as Sens. Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar at his Sunday-school class. Carter invited Buttigieg to stand and read from the Bible to those attending the class at Maranatha Baptist Church in southern Georgia, the Associated Press reported. In an apparently jocular reference to Buttigieg, the report said, Carter at one point elicited laughter from the crowd when he said, "You know him?"
Buttigieg's visit was unannounced, and some questioned who he was when he entered the room. In response, one attendee reportedly said, "Mayor Pete, the guy running for president."
"I was humbled to meet with President Carter in Plains, Georgia today," Buttigieg said in a tweet after their meeting. "He is a true public servant and America is blessed for his continuing leadership." Buttigieg's husband, Chasten, in a separate tweet said the two had "a lovely visit" to Plains. Buttigieg in the past several months has gone from being relatively unknown to among the most serious contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president, garnering nonstop media attention as he's climbed up the polls.
The South Bend mayor, who is a gay Episcopalian Christian, has often discussed his faith along the campaign trail — at one pointingtaking a jab at Vice President Mike Pence's anti-LGBTQ stances and rhetoric. Buttigieg has also faced antigay heckling as he's campaigned, but he has shrugged it off.