Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Republican senators should vote to enshrine marriage equality in law, adding he did not “understand” why 157 Republican members of Congress had voted against the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday (47 voted in support). On State of the Union Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Buttigieg about his thoughts on Senator Marco Rubio who has said he will vote “no” on the bill, calling it a “stupid waste of time.”

Buttigieg replied, “If he’s got time to fight against Disney, I don’t know why he wouldn’t have time to help safeguard marriages like mine. This is really, really important to lot of people. It’s certainly important to me.”

Making their twins’ breakfast that morning had, said Buttigieg, reminded him how much he depended on husband Chasten “every day. Our marriage deserves to be treated equally. I don’t know why this would be hard for a senator or a congressman. I don’t understand how such a majority of House Republicans voted no on our marriage,” just hours after Buttigieg had been having “normal conversations” with them about transport policy, “only for them to go around the corner and say that my marriage doesn’t deserve to continue. If they don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, they can vote ‘yes’ and move on, and that would be really reassuring for a lot of families around America, including mine.”