| Line 34: |
Line 34: |
| | Buttigieg also expressed that he believed President Trump faked a disability to get out of serving in the military and attacked him for pardons like that for US Army officer Michael Behenna, who was convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner, stating pardons like that are "disgusting." However, Buttigieg defended athletes who choose to kneel in protest during the national anthem, stating that freedom to do that was something that he put his life on the line to defend.<ref>CNN, May 23, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/politics/pete-buttigieg-national-anthem-defense/index.html Pete Buttigieg reflects on his military service in defense of national anthem protests]</ref> | | Buttigieg also expressed that he believed President Trump faked a disability to get out of serving in the military and attacked him for pardons like that for US Army officer Michael Behenna, who was convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner, stating pardons like that are "disgusting." However, Buttigieg defended athletes who choose to kneel in protest during the national anthem, stating that freedom to do that was something that he put his life on the line to defend.<ref>CNN, May 23, 2019 [https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/politics/pete-buttigieg-national-anthem-defense/index.html Pete Buttigieg reflects on his military service in defense of national anthem protests]</ref> |
| | | | |
| − | ===Political career=== | + | ===Early political career=== |
| − | Once out of college, Buttigieg did research and press work for John Kerry's presidential campaign. In 2007 Buttigieg was employed at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, where he realized that "despite all my education, I felt ignorant about how the private sector really worked." Buttigieg ran for Indiana state treasurer in 2010, though at $68,772 per year he says it paid less than half of what he already was making. In 2009 and 2010 Buttigieg openly advocated support for the auto-industry bailout, but lost the election for state treasurer to the incumbent treasurer Richard Mourdock, who opposed the bailout. | + | Once out of college, Buttigieg did research and press work for [[John Kerry]]'s presidential campaign. In 2007 Buttigieg was employed at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, where he realized that "despite all my education, I felt ignorant about how the private sector really worked." Buttigieg ran for Indiana state treasurer in 2010, though at $68,772 per year he says it paid less than half of what he already was making. In 2009 and 2010 Buttigieg openly advocated support for the auto-industry bailout, but lost the election for state treasurer to the incumbent treasurer Richard Mourdock, who opposed the bailout. |
| − | | |
| − | 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. 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]].
| |
| − | | |
| − | Mainstream media promotion for Buttigieg being president began early, with ''New York Times'' columnist Frank Bruni writing a column in 2016 entitled “The First Gay President?” asserting it would be hard to find a more perfect Democratic candidate, who always “seems always to say just the right thing, in just the right tone.”<ref>''National Review'', March 22, 2019 [https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/03/pete-buttigieg-biography-views-democratic-presidential-candidate "Twenty things you probably didn’t know about Pete Buttigieg"]</ref>
| |
| | | | |
| | ==Mayor Pete== | | ==Mayor Pete== |