Fox News' Laura Ingraham fires back at Buttigieg: Not 'the be-all and end-all moral authority'

Laura Ingraham is firing back at South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg after he called her out on Fox News itself.

Ingraham spoke after Buttigieg during a Fox News town hall cited Ingraham as one of the reasons Democrats hesitate to appear on Fox News, suggesting she doesn't operate in "good faith."

While not playing a clip, Ingraham obliquely referenced what Buttigieg said about her — a comment she's "sure you saw again and again on the other networks" — saying he showed an "unattractive strain" by doing so.

"It's hard to patronize and condescend your way to winning the nomination," she said, Mediaite reports.

Ingraham went on to mockingly call Buttigieg "Pope Pete" — which her graphics team was fully prepared for with an image of Buttigieg wearing the pope's hat — and say that just because he "attends church" doesn't make him the "be-all and end-all moral authority" or "arbiter of who is and who is not operating in good faith." This came during a segment in which Ingraham picked apart Buttigieg's Fox town hall and called him "judgmental and sanctimonious," also contending his "modulated tone" and "cool-cat exterior" are "designed to make the extreme seem downright pedestrian."