Preacher Franklin Graham tells Mayor Pete Buttigieg to repent for being gay

Evangelical preacher Franklin Graham has told South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg that he should "repent" for the "sin" of being gay.

Franklin Graham, who is the son of late evangelical preacher Billy Graham, made this statement on Wednesday. 

It all began on Monday when presidential candidate Buttigieg said during a CNN town hall that "God has no political party". He said this while speaking about his religious views as well as his sexual orientation.

Buttigieg said:

It can be challenging to be a person of faith who's also part of the LGBTQ community and yet, to me, the core of faith is regard for one another.

And part of God's love is experienced, according to my faith tradition, is in the way that we support one another and, in particular, support the least among us.

When asked how he plans to unite Christians, Buttigieg said his devotion to faith is expressed through his humility and his concern for the weaker segments of society.

He explained:

Frankly, it couldn't be more radically different than what I see certainly in this White House, where there is a lot of chest-thumping and self-aggrandizing, not to mention abusive behavior, but also political agenda that seems to always be revolving around that idea that somehow it's too easy for poor people in this country,’ he said.

It's just so different from what I get when I read Scripture.

I get that one of the things about Scripture is different people see different things in it,’ he said.

But, at the very least we should be able to establish that God does not have a political party.

Graham, who is a supporter of Donald Trump, then took to Twitter on Wednesday to react to Buttigieg's statement.

Franklin Graham tweeted: "Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is right - God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to live by."

He added: "God doesn’t change. His Word is the same yesterday, today & forever.

"Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized."

He continued: "The Bible says marriage is between a man & a woman—not two men, not two women. The core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world - to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation."

Graham is a controversial figure, particularly over his support for President Trump. When asked about allegations that Trump had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and then paid her hush money, Graham said last year: "President Trump I don’t think has admitted to having an affair with this person. And so this is just a news story, and I don’t even know if it’s accurate."