Pete Buttigieg isn’t just laughing off Tucker Carlson’s wild claim he’s not actually gay — he’s reveling in it … saying his amusement comes from surviving the very raw journey of owning his truth.

On Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan, Pete got real — saying most of his 20s were spent convinced coming out would kill his future career … and he was in such a dark headspace, he admits he might’ve even tried conversion therapy if it meant not being gay.

Pete — President Joe Biden‘s Transportation Secretary, and the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana — said it finally clicked during his military deployment … if he made it back home alive, he had to come out, career be damned.

All that said, Pete finds it kinda hilarious that a right-wing talking head’s big conspiracy theory is that he’s secretly straight … joking if that’s the wildest critique of his sexuality, it’s actually a sign of progress.