Pete Buttigieg Calls Out DeSantis Over Video Featuring 'Oiled-Up, Shirtless Bodybuilders'

Openly gay Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wondered aloud about a DeSantis campaign video that sandwiched photos of the Florida governor between images of ripped male hunks, NBC News reported.

"I'm going to leave aside the strangeness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that splices images of you in between oiled-up, shirtless bodybuilders," Buttigieg said during an appearance on the CNN news show "State of the Union."

"...And just get to the bigger issue that is on my mind whenever I see this stuff in the policy space, which is, again: Who are you trying to help? Who are you trying to make better off? And what public policy problems do you get up in the morning thinking about how to solve?" the out cabinet member went on to add.

As previously reported, the campaign video, shared online by the DeSantis campaign, took aim at Donald Trump, who is currently positioned as the presumptive GOP frontrunner for next year's presidential election, by painting Trump as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

The ad included "video of [Trump] saying he would 'do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens' in a speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016," NBC News relayed.

"Trump issued the remarks in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida," the news report recalled.

The ad segues into images of "DeSantis, appearing to try to portray him as the paragon of masculinity," the news report explained. "Thumping background music is accompanied by images of DeSantis, shirtless, muscular men and headlines about the anti-LGBTQ policies DeSantis signed into law."

As AP noted, that montage also features "Brad Pitt, seen wearing a leather mask from the movie 'Troy.'"

Some called the video "homophobic," among them the LGBTQ+ conservative group Log Cabin Republicans.

But the images of buff, shirtless men – and Brad Pitt in a leather mask – also prompted the inevitable observation, made by Pete Buttigieg's husband Chasten, that "This is actually very gay."

Another contender for the GOP nomination in next year's election, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also decried the video during an appearance on "State of the Union," saying that politicians need to focus on substantive issues and declaring, "this type of video does nothing to address those issues. And it is a teenage food fight between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump."

Added Christie: "And I don't think that's what leaders should be doing."

Pete Buttigieg seemed to agree. "I just don't understand the mentality of somebody who gets up in the morning thinking that he's going to prove his worth by competing over who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community that is already so vulnerable in America," Buttigieg said.