Vice President Mike Pence and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg know each other from Pence’s days in Indiana.  They met when Pence was Governor. Today Pence said they “had a great working relationship.” But Buttigieg clearly has issues with the VP and he recently brought Pence up when talking about being gay saying that “I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand, that if you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is not with me, your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”

Today Pence directly responded to what Buttigieg said during an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen saying:

“He said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally, and he knows better. He knows me. But I get it. You know, it’s — look, they got 19 people running for president on that side… And they’re all competing with one another for how much more liberal they are than the other. So, I get that.”

Kernan also asked if Pence’s views had evolved and his answer was clear, “I have a view of marriage that’s informed by our faith. And we stand by that.”

Watch what else Pence said above.

So far Buttigieg hasn’t reacted publicly to Pence’s new remarks, but he did tweet this earlier in the week.

Meanwhile. Buttigieg’s poll numbers are rising.  Here’s the latest Monmouth Poll on Iowa:

  • Biden – 27
  • Sanders – 16
  • Buttigieg – 9
  • Harris – 7
  • Warren – 7
  • O’Rourke – 6
  • Klobuchar – 4
  • Booker – 3

Buttigieg is expected to officially launch his presidential campaign Sunday at a rally in South Bend.