South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Peter Buttigieg (D.) challenged comments Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) made about Iran and Israel during his appearance on ABC's "The View" Thursday.
Co-host Meghan McCain asked Buttigieg, a likely 2020 presidential candidate, about his views on Israel and Omar's comments.
"The idea that what's going on is equivalent is just wrong," he said, pointing out that the Iranian regime executes gay people.
During a Yahoo interview released Wednesday night, Omar lamented that the United States strongly supports Israel and considers the Jewish state, the only democracy in the Middle East, a democratic state. "When I see Israel institute a law that recognizes it as a Jewish state and does not recognize the other religions that are living in it, and we still uphold it as a democracy in the Middle East, I almost chuckle," she said.
Interviewer Zainab Salbi asked Omar about how the U.S. could "work productively toward a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
Omar focused on criticizing Israel, likening it to Iran, a violent theocracy and leading sponsor of terrorism. "If we see [something like the nation-state law] in any other society, we would criticize it. We would call it out. We do that to Iran. We do that to any other place that sort of upholds its religion," she said.
Iran executes gay citizens and abuses minority groups. Iran has hanged gay men in public from construction cranes. In contrast, Israel hosts the largest pro-gay "Pride Parade" in the Middle East. The June 2018 occurrence drew more than 250,000 participants.
Buttigieg, an openly gay public official who lives with his same-sex partner, decried the comparison.
"People like me get strung up in Iran," he said.
Buttigieg acknowledged the situation in the Middle East presents "a complicated picture." Referring to his May 2018 visit to the region, Buttigieg noted Israel, though an important ally, would have a difficult time being at once a Jewish and Democratic state.
Despite that challenge, Buttigieg pushed back strongly against Omar's wish for the U.S. to treat Israelis and Palestinians as equivalent. "Simple answers will not serve us well at a time like this," he said.