Two right-wing internet trolls attempted to smear Pete Buttigieg with a bogus sex assault claim, a report said on Monday.
The pair, Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, approached a third party in an attempt to concoct a story that the presidential hopeful had sex with the man while he was drunk, according to The Daily Beast.
Wohl specifically said his intent was to blunt the recent momentum surrounding the South Bend, Indiana, mayor and called Buttigieg a “terminal threat” to President Donald Trump’s reelection.
The candidate told the publication that the hoax was a feeble attempt to hurt his campaign.
“It’s not going to throw us,” Buttigieg said. “Politics can be ugly sometimes but you have to face that when you’re in presidential politics.”
Buttigieg has been surging in recent polls while receiving a flurry of media attention.
Wohl had previously been caught attempting to create a sexual harassment allegation against Robert Mueller during the special counsel office’s probe into Russia.
