While at a Fox News town hall in Claremont, New Hampshire on Sunday evening, presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg acknowledged that he needs to put in more effort to appeal to “black and brown voters.” After moderator Chris Wallace pointed out that Buttigieg was polling at one-percent support among nonwhite primary voters, which Buttigieg argued by saying that minority voters are “skeptical of people who seem to come out of nowhere.”
When speaking about the fiscal policy and the country’s deficit, Buttigieg pushed for four different tax hikes. He said that he favored “fairer, which means higher” marginal income tax, a “reasonable” wealth tax “or something like that,” a financial transactions tax, and closing “corporate tax loopholes.” While speaking to Wallace about President Trump’s tax legislation, Buttigieg said: “You don’t blow a hole in the budget with an unnecessary and unaffordable tax cut for the very wealthiest.”
With very little emphasis or explanation, Buttigieg stuck to reminding voters of his most prominent campaign promises as well as the lessons that he learned while being deployed in Afghanistan for six months in 2014. “We do not send young men and women to war when there’s an alternative,” he stated. Throughout the entire night, Buttigieg received applause from the crowd, including when he defended his calls for abolishing the electoral college. Buttigieg said: “States don’t vote, people vote.” He continued by saying that “if we’re going to call ourselves a democracy.”
In response to the newly passed pro-life legislation that has passed in Alabama, as well as other states, Buttigieg told Wallace that “abortion is a national right.” When he was asked about third-trimester abortions, Buttigieg assured the crowd that third-trimester abortions were extremely rare and typically only performed during unforeseen circumstances. Buttigieg than refused to endorse any kind of restrictions on late-term abortions. According to government statistics, approximately 1.3 percent of abortions were performed after 20 weeks. Buttigieg continued by saying: “I trust women to draw the line. That decision [to have an abortion] is not going to be made any better, medically or morally, because the government is dictating how that decision should be made.”
Despite the fact that Joe Biden is now leading the race in the Democratic Party, Buttigieg has said that the long odds of winning didn’t faze him. “There’s a lot of us running for president on the Democratic side, but I think it’s safe to say I’m not like the others.” He continued by saying: “I would say being a mayor in a city of any size in America right now is about as relevant as it gets.”
Buttigieg also insists that he isn’t worried about the Republican he’d likely go up against, either. In reference to Trump’s posts on Twitter, including those that mocked Buttigieg, the young mayor said: “The tweets are — I don’t care.” According to Wallace, “It’s a great way to command attention.” Buttigieg argued by saying: “It’s a great way to command attention from the media.”
During the closing questions, Buttigieg defended the comments he made during a radio show on Friday, in which he called for the removal of Thomas Jefferson’s name from buildings and events. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declarations of Independence, served as the vice president and the president. He has become the latest historical figure that progressives are trying to make “disappear” because of the fact that he owned slaves. “You would have thought I would proposed blowing up the Jefferson Memorial in D.C.,” said Buttigieg jokingly. He also pointed out that he didn’t want Jefferson’s name stripped completely from the public eye, just from those that are honorary titles.
After delivering his closing remarks, Buttigieg received a standing ovation. As the town meeting came to a close, Buttigieg said: “Look, what we’re trying to do here is different. Because the moment that we’re in is different. I get that a millennial, midwestern mayor is not what leaps to mind when you think about a prototypical candidate for president. But I also think we’re living — if it’s hard to figure out what’s going on right now, it’s because we are living on one of those blank pages in between chapters of American history. And what comes next could be ugly or it could be amazing.” Buttigieg continued by saying: “And I believe running for office is an act of hope, and so is voting for somebody, and supporting somebody and volunteering for somebody. I hope you’ll join me in making sure that that next era is better than any we’ve had so far.”
Before Buttigieg attended the town hall meeting, he looked at the strong position his campaign has had so early on in the race. In an interview with Fox News, Buttigieg said: “We were expecting at this stage of the game to still be introducing ourselves and even defending the idea that something this audacious was appropriate. Instead, we find that we’ve bolted into the top tier.”
On Saturday night, Buttigieg defended his decision to appear at the Fox town hall in an email to supporters. On Sunday, President Trump took fire at Buttigieg’s appearance at the town hall, stating that it was “hard to believe” that Fox allowed the candidate to appear. Buttigieg said: “If we ignore the viewers of Fox News and every news platform that doesn’t share our worldview, we will surrender our ability to speak directly to millions of American voters. If we don’t show up, the conservative media will tell our side of the story for us.”
