Michael Knowles is defending Tucker Carlson‘s wild claim that Pete Buttigieg is a “fake gay guy” … and he says he’s heard the same thing from a gay friend of his own.

The Daily Wire host joined us on “TMZ Live” Thursday and we challenged him over his recent appearance on Tucker’s podcast, where they laughed and speculated Pete is be faking his sexuality for political gain.

Michael says he takes Pete at his word that he’s gay, but he’s got no problem amplifying the opinions of folks who think Pete is full of it … telling us a “card-carrying member” of the LGBTQ+ community told him Buttigieg is masquerading as a gay man.

Michael and Tucker think Pete is faking it to get a leg up in the Democratic Party … but Harvey Levin pushes back, telling Michael that’s nonsense because Gavin Newsom is a favorite as the Dems’ next presidential nominee. Newsom’s a straight white man.

We also ask Michael how he feels about outing people … and challenge him on the notion that Democrats are digging further into identity politics.