South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg faced a flurry of criticism on Christmas day after he suggested that Jesus Christ entered into the world as a refugee.
“Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee,” he tweeted.
His tweet came just days after the 2020 presidential candidate released his plan calling for a significant increase in refugee admissions and setting an admissions minimum of 95,000.
Buttigieg’s policy paper specifically recalls Biblical language to support his vision for immigration. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” the paper says, referring to a passage from the Gospels.
Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into this world not in riches but in poverty, not as a citizen but as a refugee.
No matter where or how we celebrate, merry Christmas.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) December 25, 2019
But conservatives argued Buttigieg’s understanding of the Bible was off the mark.
“Joseph and Mary went to their ancestral home in Bethlehem for a census,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh tweeted.
“[I]n no sense did Jesus ‘come into this world as a refugee.’ There’s also no reason to think that Joseph was particularly impoverished. So nothing about this tweet is correct,” he added. – READ MORE