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→Buttigieg and fake news reporting
For a lot of people, “‘normal’ has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump.<ref>https://archive.is/5vXG0</ref>}}
For a lot of people, “‘normal’ has been a real problem for a very long time, and I think the failures of the Obama era help explain how we got Trump.<ref>https://archive.is/5vXG0</ref>}}
The news set [[Twitter]] afire. Within hours the ''LA Times'' censored itself and altered the quote. MSNBC helped out by leaving [[Andrew Yang]] out of its list of early primary polls in [[Iowa]].
The news set [[Twitter]] afire. Within hours the ''LA Times'' censored itself and altered the quote. MSNBC helped out by leaving [[Andrew Yang]] out of its list of early primary polls in [[Iowa]].
==Mayor Pete==
[[File:Plot1.png|right|400px|thumb|FBI crime data since Mayor Pete took office.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/south-bends-violent-crime-continues-to-skyrocket-under-buttigieg/</ref>]]
Buttigieg's next step on the political ladder was that of being elected mayor of heavily Democratic South Bend, Indiana, in which [[single party control|every mayor since 1972]] has been a Democrat. In 2011, Pete ran for and was elected Mayor of South Bend on a promise to bring the city back with a new approach to politics and new ideas.<ref>https://peteforamerica.com/meet-pete/</ref> Buttigieg won 80% with a total turnout of 8,000 in a city of 100,000. Despite this majority vote, Buttigieg has overseen rising crime, homelessness, and drug use. South Bend is among the 3% most violent cities in America, and is among the highest 30 cities for top murder rates, and with violent crimes being three times higher than in the rest of Indiana, while property crimes are five times higher. Overall South Bend is safer than just 3% of U.S. cities.<ref>[https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/in/south-bend/crime Location Inc®, South Bend, IN Crime Rates] Accessed 07/06/19</ref> In 2015 South Bend had a murder rate that ranked it the 29th-worst among the 300 American cities with 100,000 people or more.<ref>https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/pete-buttigieg-biography-views-democratic-presidential-candidate/</ref>
Nonetheless, as mayor, he received praise from the very liberal ''Washington Post'' (which focused on him being a mayor who while serving six-month deployment to Afghanistan as a naval reservist), for his plan on dealing with 1,000 vacant lots and abandoned buildings in 1,000 days. However, he also faced much criticism for handling a scandal (which developed shortly after his election) regarding illegal recordings by the police department of allegedly racist statements by certain officers against the black police chief, and which ended up involving the FBI. This resulted in an ongoing legal fight that has been the longest-running and most expensive one the city history, costing taxpayers more than $2 million thus far.
In April 2019, ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote about Buttigieg and South Bend, Indiana:
{{Cquote|...Buttigieg’s focus on downtown has been criticized for coming at the expense of other neighborhoods. More than a quarter of the population still lives at or below the poverty line, well above the national average of 14%. Crime is also high. There were 15 murders, 93 rapes and 345 robberies per 100,000 in South Bend in 2017, compared to six, 52 and 339 per 100,000 in 2010, according to City-Data.com.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/17/pete-buttigieg-2020-run-south-bend-poverty-crime Does everyone really love Mayor Pete? His home town has some answers], The Guardian, April 2019</ref>}}
Buttigieg endorsed Clinton late in the primary in 2016, and after Trump's election, Buttigieg announced he would run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, running against [[Keith Ellison]] and [[Tom Perez]] but was defeated because he's [[white]].
According to FBI crime statistics, violent crime has risen year after year since Buttigieg's election. As mayor, Buttigieg oversees South Bend's systemic racism.
===Race relations===
Buttigieg is an amateur white race-hustler by Democrat standards. Buttigieg apologized for having once thought, believed, and expressed "all lives matter"<ref>https://defconnews.com/2019/04/05/pete-buttigieg-apologizes-for-saying-all-lives-matter/</ref>
and criticized his supporters for being too white.<ref>Pollak, Joel B. (April 15, 2019). [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/15/pete-buttigieg-knocks-own-supporters-for-being-too-white/ Pete Buttigieg Knocks Own Supporters for Being Too White]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved April 16, 2019.</ref>
''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that one of Buttigieg's first actions as mayor was to fire and demote the city's popular Black police chief.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/us/politics/buttigieg-black-police-chief-fired.html</ref> The Obama [[FBI]] under its disgraced director [[James Comey]] was investigating the city's first [[Black]] police chief for allegedly illegal wiretapping. No federal or state charges were ever filed against the chief. Buttigieg told [[CNN]], "This wasn’t about the nuances of the Wiretap Act, this was about whether people could trust their police department.” Upon firing, the former chief sued Buttigieg for [[racial]] [[discrimination]] and [[civil rights]] violations,<ref>https://www.law360.com/cases/51a8de786f823f7110000001</ref> costing the city in excess of $2 million.<ref>https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/politics/buttigieg-record-with-black-south-bend-residents-under-spotlight-he/article_802c5c8b-80e0-507e-aa6c-684c46db9b87.html</ref> When confronted by [[Black Lives Matter]] protesters, Buttigieg read from a prepared script saying, "I'm not asking for your vote."<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjT5MlOoUUI&feature=youtu.be</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/ZhlJntrzrD8</ref>
The chief's lawyer does not believe Buttigieg's explanation and told the ''New York Times'' that he asked a friend in the U.S. Attorney's office whether Buttigieg's explanation added up. The U.S Attorney's office responded that Buttigieg's explanation "is so contrary to the protocols of U.S. Attorneys’ offices. We never would condition a determination on prosecuting or not prosecuting based on an employment decision."<ref>https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/darryl-boykins/</ref> Buttigieg's truth-telling surrounding the events has been called into question.<ref>https://thefederalist.com/2019/06/26/pete-buttigieg-telling-truth-fired-towns-first-black-police-chief/</ref>
Buttigieg called for the eradication of racial bias in the South Bend police force,<ref>[https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/04/south-bend-police-pete-buttigieg-lives-matter-race-boykins/586513] Pete Buttigieg and the Police Department: Race Record Under Scrutiny</ref> while being accused of a lack of diversity in his administration<ref>[https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/opinion/viewpoint/viewpoint-diversity-has-fallen-in-mayor-pete-buttigieg-s-administration/article_3dbd0df8-385b-5e0a-9486-d561e1e57ba6.html Diversity has fallen in Mayor Pete Buttigieg's administration]</ref> as well as in his presidential campaign.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/politics/pete-buttigieg-diversity-2020-campaign-events/index.html Buttigieg: I'm 'conscious' of lack of diversity at events]</ref>
Buttigieg rejected calls for the resignation of the [[racist]] Democrat governor of Virginia [[Ralph Northam]]. Buttigieg said, {{quotebox|"I don’t mean to congratulate ourselves because we’ve got our issues to work through too, but I would point to the contrast between how the Democratic Party handled allegations of sexual mistreatment among people in our ranks … and what's going on on the other side of the aisle. Or when it comes to these disturbing racial relations. The difference between the conversation the Democratic Party is having about the governor of Virginia and the conversation, if any, that the Republican Party is having about people like [[Steve King]]. How much will we tolerate? That is one of the things that ultimately gets resolved in the conduct of a primary process."<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?457645-1/south-bend-mayor-pete-buttigieg-meets-iowa-voters</ref>}} Buttigieg's riff was a blatantly false statement. King was immediately removed by Republicans from all House committee assignments when King was quoted out of context by the ''New York Times'', whereas Rep. [[Ilhan Omar]] was never censored or disciplined for a recurring pattern of [[anti-Semitic]] statements. Buttigieg justified Gov. Northam remaining in office rather than resign to allow the [[Black]] Lieutenant Governor to assume office, suggesting Northam could primaried out in 2021.<ref>https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pete-buttigieg-claims-gop-tolerates-racist-behavior-and-sexual-assault</ref> Northam has since donated over $85,000 to fellow Democrats and remains in office.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/northam-pac-funnels-85000-to-democratic-candidates/</ref> A lawyer for Northam hosted a fundraiser for Buttigieg in June 2019.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/northam-lawyer-to-host-buttigieg-fundraiser/</ref>
Buttigieg’s initiative to address 1,000 vacant and abandoned homes in 1,000 days with aggressive code enforcement disproportionately displaced poor black people. Common Council member Regina Williams-Preston, who is running for mayor in 2019, told several [[mainstream media]] outlets “people lost homes,” primarily poor blacks, because of the initiative. Buttigieg's focus on downtown development projects did little to help struggling residents in low-income neighborhoods.
Buttigieg has accused Black Christians of [[homophobia]].<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2019/06/07/pete-buttigieg-policies-lgbtq/</ref> More than any other ethnic demographic group, Blacks have historically opposed [[same sex marriage]] and hijacking of the [[civil rights]] movement by the [[gay pride]] movement,<ref>https://boycewatkins.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/poll-60-of-african-americans-do-not-support-gay-marriage/</ref><ref>https://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/08/holdouts-blacks-oppose-gay-marriage-4151-in-new-pew-poll/</ref> which for Buttigieg is a main drawing card. When Buttigieg launched his presidential campaign on a Sunday, many [[African-American]]s weren't asked and didn't attend because they were at [[church]].
As a result of a deadly shooting by police officer (Sgt. Ryan O’Neill) of a black man (Eric Logan), an alleged burglar who went toward the police officer with a knife,<ref>https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/publicsafety/south-bend-cop-in-fatal-shooting-did-not-have-body/article_83d293e0-b7cf-56cc-a19e-e9ea03ff4ec4</ref> Buttigieg faced significant criticism from the black community. The South Bend police union accused Mayor Pete Buttigieg of engaging in a response in this case that is "solely for his political gain and not for the health of the city he serves,” and as "driving a wedge" between officers and residents,<ref>https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/publicsafety/south-bend-police-union-accuses-pete-buttigieg-of-exploiting-shooting/article_d918c4b6-e3c7-50fd-a468-419ff358590c.html</ref><ref>https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/marchers-confront-pete-buttigieg-police-chief-with-frustrations-after-south/article_25ff0d24-c317-53ed-9999-4f51ac5bcf36.html</ref> and stated that his remark that "all police work and all of American life takes place in the shadow of racism" was divisive.<ref>[https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/southbendtribune.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/fd/afddc144-558c-54e1-8f4f-37028bccb045/5d114dfdc570f.pdf.pdf Press release, Fraternal order of police, Lodge #36, June 24]</ref> Days before the first Democratic presidential debates, prominent South Bend community leaders were demanding his resignation.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/former-common-council-president-to-mayor-pete-resign/</ref> In the process, Buttigieg significantly lowered morale in the South Bend Police Department, with many officers considering leaving.<ref>Shaw, Adam (July 22, 2019). [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/south-bend-cops-warn-of-mass-exodus-as-morale-tanks-over-buttigiegs-handling-of-shooting South Bend cops warn of ‘mass exodus,’ as morale tanks over Buttigieg handling of shooting]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved July 22, 2019.</ref>
Steve Patton, the [[Chicago]] city attorney who spearheaded efforts to block the release of video footage showing the 2014 police shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald, donated the maximum amount of $5,600 to the Buttigieg campaign and headlined fundraising events.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/blog/pete-buttigieg-rahm-emanuel-police/</ref>
===South Bend abortionist with 2,246 baby corpses in his home===
In Buttigieg’s first year in office, a pro-life crisis pregnancy center wanted to open next door to [[Ulrich Klopfer]], the only abotionist in South Bend. The pro-life group promised to not allow demonstrators to use their property, but Buttigieg intervened to prevent the rescue center from getting permission to open.<ref>https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2019/09/14/pete-buttigiegs-association-abortionist-stockpiled-baby-corpses-home-hardly-surprising/</ref>
Klopfer was forcibly retired in 2015, and his clinic closed, after it was found he performed abortions on at least two girls under 13 years of age and violated state law by not reporting it. ''The New York Times'' reported that Klopfer was found guilty of five of the nine charges he faced by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, including failing to report an abortion he performed on a 13-year-old, failing to exercise reasonable care, and violating documentation and notice requirements.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/us/dr-ulrich-klopfer-fetal-remains.html</ref> The ''Fort Wayne Journal Gazette'' reported many of the board members were shocked by Klopfer’s attitude regarding the case of a 10-year-old girl who had been raped by her uncle. The doctor failed to notify the police even after learning that the parents were going to keep the matter secret. One board member stated that what bothered her most was Klopfer’s striking lack of medical judgment and competence.
When Klopfer died in 2019, his family found 2,246 corpses of dead babies preserved in jars in his home.
After Klopfer's forced retirement, a Texas based franchise chain with locations in five states moved into South Bend. Whole Woman's Health committed dozens of health and safety violations in three Texas facilities between 2011 and 2017, including the lack of a registered nurse on staff, inadequate sterilization of equipment, and missing [[fentanyl]] stock. The Indiana State Department of Health denied Whole Woman's Health of South Bend's license application due to a lack of "reputable and responsible character."
Buttigieg's presidential campaign touted his support of Whole Woman's Health.<ref>https://freebeacon.com/politics/buttigieg-continues-support-for-abortion-provider-with-troubled-history/</ref>
In April 2018, Buttigieg vetoed a South Bend Common Council rezoning decision that would have allowed a pro-life pregnancy center, Women's Care Center, to open next door to Whole Woman's Health.
In August 2019, ''The Chicago Tribune'' reported, "South Bend at center of abortion debate as unlicensed clinic supported by Mayor Pete Buttigieg is allowed to open."<ref>https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-south-bend-abortion-clinic-20190806-2glq5hlgyfejvbvhbk2dknhbme-story.html</ref>
==Background and career==
==Background and career==