(CNN) South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg cautioned against boycotts of companies like Chick-fil-A because of their political giving in an interview on Wednesday, arguing that it leads people to "sometimes slip into a sort of virtue signaling in some cases where we're not really being consistent." 

The comment -- which comes a day after Buttigieg, who is gay, said he doesn't support Chick-fil-A's politics but supports its chicken -- is significant because of past controversy surrounding Chick-fil-A. The fast food company's president Dan Cathy said in 2012 that the company was supportive of "the biblical definition of the family unit" and that society was "inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'"  As a result, many groups boycotted the chain. 

Chick-fil-A's late founder, Truett Cathy, founded the WinShape Foundation, which has also faced criticism from gay rights advocates for its donations to anti-gay groups. 

"If you're turned off, as I am, by the political behavior of Chick-Fil-A or their executives, that leaves a bad taste in your mouth so to speak.  You decide not to shop there, I certainly get it and I support it," Buttigieg said on BuzzFeed's AM to DM. " But, you know, the reality is we, I think, sometimes slip into a sort of virtue signaling in some cases where we're not really being consistent." 

He added: "I mean, what about all the other places we get our chicken from?  Do we know, have we scrutinized the political contributions of the executives of other places that we get all of our food from? ...  I just want to make sure that we're not too sanctimonious about this.  Because sometimes we put ourselves in this position of judgment that doesn't really hold up under scrutiny." 

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