South Bend Mayor and presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg sat down with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show Monday night.
Noah asked him how he’s gotten where he is and if he thinks he’s too young to be president.
Asked Noah: “Some people have said the reason you get so much media coverage is, not unlike Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, you’re benefiting from white male privilege, where media wants to cover you, and candidates with different skin colors wouldn’t get the same coverage. Do you think you’re benefiting from that or do you think there’s something else?”
Said Buttigieg: “I’d like to think it’s my qualities and my message. But I’ve been reflecting on this because one of the things about privilege is that you don’t think about it very much. It’s being in an out group where you are constantly reminded of it. It’s not when you’re in a majority or a privileged group. And so I try to check myself and try to understand the factors that help explain why things are going well. Then again, there is a lot of ups and downs. We’re having a good moment. But I am under no illusion it’s going to stay like this indefinitely. We’re going to have a lot of challenges.”
“I do think that there’s a media environment that kind of pushes people into lanes, whether they comfortably fit there or not,” added Buttigieg. “And I do think it’s simply harder for candidates of color or for female candidates; I’m very mindful of that. The only thing I know how to do about that is to be true to a message and a vision that’s meaningful and to be as respectful as I can to the others. I don’t view myself as having opponents, but competitors, and I think each of us needs to compete based on what we have to offer.”
Noah also asked Buttigieg what his Day 1 as president would be.
Said Buttigieg: “I think– Day One– you launch a package of Democratic reforms to strengthen our democracy … making voter registration easier– making it easier to get to the polls. … Launching a reform to the Electoral College based on the idea that you might say is simplistic but you want to give the presidency to whoever gets the most votes. … Launching a commission to propose measures that would depoliticize the Supreme Court. I mean big deep structural reforms that need to happen.”
Buttigieg also talked about what he learned as mayor that could benefit the country right now: “What you learn is the job has not just a policy element — not just a management element — but also this intangible part, the moral part which is calling people to their highest values. It’s actually probably the thing we’re most grievously missing right now in the White House. And we really need it, it really matters.”
Check out the full interview:
