Buttigieg, Booker turn down invite to Iowa Christian conservatives group
WASHINGTON — Pete Buttigieg and Cory Booker are turning down an invitation to an Iowa conservative Christian group’s summit, joining Beto O’Rourke, who had previously said he wouldn’t attend.
Bob Vander Plaats, an influential social conservative leader in Iowa who runs the group The Family Leader, had told NBC News previously that he was inviting the Democratic candidates for president to have a discussion around faith and unity in July. The invitation, he said, comes as a number of Democrats this year have been speaking about their faith on the campaign trail.
But Booker, the New Jersey senator, tweeted Monday that although he welcomes any chance to talk about how faith guides him, he won’t be attending.
“I cannot — in good conscience — attend an event put on by an organization that preaches bigotry and sows hate against the LGBTQ community,” Booker wrote.
Buttigieg’s campaign had said previously that he was considering accepting the invitation. Buttigieg, the South Bend, Ind. mayor who is gay, has emphasized how he believes his same-sex marriage has brought him closer to God and has challenged religious conservatives for their opposition to same-sex marriage.
“We keep an open mind to the invitations that we receive,” Buttigieg press secretary Chris Meagher said. “We will be declining this invitation.”
Vander Plaats tells NBC News that it’s a “calculated decision” by the candidates not to attend, particularly considering that many have discussed faith openly on the campaign trail:
“The message it sends is they want to run for president for a piece of America, not for all of America,” Vander Plaats said Monday. “When they’re sending a vision of unity, we’re offering a chance to discuss unity in a civil and safe environment and have a good conversation about it. We think we’re providing a great opportunity. Obviously it’s their choice.”
Bob Vander Plaats’ name raised in profile in 2010 when he led a successful effort that ousted three Iowa Supreme Court judges from the bench after the court’s unanimous ruling in 2009 to legalize gay marriage in the state.
He also attracted attention ahead of the 2016 RNC Convention when he told NBC News that “everything’s got to be on the table” at the convention, including the unbinding of delegates to avoid a Trump nomination.
UPDATE: California Sen. Kamala Harris is also not attending, her communications director told NBC News.