Pete Buttigieg reminds us why he's a helluva messenger for Democrats

[Brexiter]

On Monday night, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared for a wide-ranging 19-minute interview on “The Daily Show,” where he showed why he excels as a Democratic messenger.

"I think part of what [President Joe Biden] achieved with what's a really extraordinary thing,” Buttigieg went on, “I think even now we might be underselling how world-historically rare it is to be literally the most powerful person in the world and lay power aside, right? Just because it's the right thing to do. But in doing so, I also think he's consolidated his own standing as one of America's great presidents."

The full interview can be found at the end of this article, but we’ll dive into more highlights after the break.

After Stewart asked about differences in Democratic messaging after Biden ended his campaign, the topic turned to the never-ending dud that is Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance:

Buttigieg: There is a temptation to have our message be entirely about Donald Trump because we're so disturbed by what his return would mean, and maybe a little more also about JD Vance because of how odd he's turned out to be.
Stewart: I got to tell you, boy, did that dude drop a turd on launch, right? I've never seen anything like that, where one day they were like, “Heir to the MAGA fortune, Prince JD, shall march,” and he comes out and he’s like, “I hate cat ladies,” you know?

Buttigieg: Yeah, it's rough. He systematically insulted so many people, and it's not just the kind of things you said, but the policy ideas behind them. Like he has this idea that you should get extra votes if you have kids.

Stewart: Extra votes?

Buttigieg: Yeah. He suggested that you should have extra votes if you're a parent.

Stewart: Really? You don't even get that in your own house.

Joking aside, Buttigieg brought the reality of Vance’s disrespectful statements back to the forefront, explaining:

[Vance] doesn't just say that being a parent gives you, you know, an important role as a citizen, which I agree with—that it gives you a unique perspective on the future. It's that not being a parent makes you less. … He said people who don't have children—this is a quote—“have no physical commitment to the future of this country.” And I just think about how, like, “no physical commitment to the future.” Like, when I was deployed to Afghanistan, I didn't have kids back then, but I will tell you, especially when there was a rocket attack going on, my commitment to this country felt pretty, pretty physical.

Buttigieg then pointed out that the Biden administration’s support of labor has helped to correct the false narrative that the Republican Party embodies some kind of economic populism. After Stewart asked why that mythology still persisted, Buttigieg answered:

Well, it's not based on policy. It's just body language. It's this idea that if you just act like you are populist, that that counts. Look, I'm under no illusions that elections are just a policy exercise. A lot of it is vibes, a lot of it is style. But if your party has been systemically against unions, against a higher minimum wage, against things like paid family leave, against overtime, then just because you found Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock and put them on stage doesn't make you a friend of the working man, right?

It’s true. The Republican National Convention ditched any policy talk about helping working Americans, instead focusing on things like appearances from 1980s professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea.

Finally, about a potential second Trump administration, Buttigieg said you just need to look at what he did when he was in office the first time.

"The promises [Trump] kept are the really interesting ones because I think they tell you what the next Trump administration, if you got one, would be like,” Buttigieg finished. “One was the promise he made to the Christian right to eliminate the right to choose. And the other was the promise he made to corporate America to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy. Those are the promises he followed through on. That's what he's about, Hulk Hogan or not?"

Buttigieg continues to be an asset in messaging across the board.

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