All posts tagged "pete buttigieg"

One simple move will give Dems a potent way to draw Trump's poison

We’re finally seeing cracks in the GOP’s armor, thanks to Pam Bondi’s disastrous hearings and the increasingly horrific details emerging from the Epstein Files. Democrats were surveilled while they searched the un-redacted files, and that’s just one fact that should matter to everyone.

When it comes to the news, the truth has always mattered to me more than anything. As the MAGA cult snowflakes love to say, facts don’t care about your feelings — it’s just that MAGAts say it like a bunch of second-graders who learned how to bully from their sixth-grade brothers. The truth is that the truth is always true, no matter who wants to believe it, and will remain true whether anyone likes it or not, and most of the time, the truth is something we don’t like. But we’re taught to live with the truth and handle our business.

But how to get the truth to the American people, at a time when Donald Trump has single-tiny-handedly ruined the trust in the news media? The slow boil that began when he descended that gold escalator in June 2015 and declared his candidacy with a speech full of racist and xenophobic tropes ultimately led to the scalding hot pants-on-fire Project 2025.

The mainstream media initially dismissed Trump as a joke, until competitors started dropping out in alarming succession, soon after the Russian hacking of both the Democratic and Republican national committees. I don’t know why no one else ever saw the ripple effect of Vladimir Putin holding onto whatever he had on the Republicans while releasing everything on the Democrats, but Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio know.

Does the American public?

Trump’s control over the media is now so blatantly obvious it’s impossible to trust White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt or anyone else in the administration. Trump has banished almost all outlets that challenge him. Jeff Bezos gave him the Washington Post. Bari Weiss gave him CBS. It’s going to take years to repair the damage.

We all know what would happen if a Democrat tried to banish or control the media, especially if they’d turned the Oval Office into a tacky gold Hobby Lobby Make-A-Trophy display while demolishing the East Wing altogether. Oh, and had done so while being at the center of the biggest political cover-up in American history.

Democrats have always been capable of holding our own accountable — just ask John Edwards, Gary Hart, and Bob Menendez, to name a few who did things Republicans have done and were brought crashing down. And don’t get me started on Al Franken, who should be in the Senate right now, based on what now passes for basic congressional comportment.

Trump has forced himself on the media, to the point where people are simply turned off by the news altogether. “I don’t even watch the news anymore,” is something I hear a lot. I can’t blame anyone who says so, but that means they probably aren’t getting any real daily information about what Democrats are doing for the American people, including doing what they can to hold Trump and his cronies accountable.

Congressional Democrats have so much on their plates, trying to save our democracy, that they shouldn’t have to do Leavitt’s job for her too. That’s why, for well over a year, I’ve been advocating for the DNC to appoint an official Democratic Press Secretary. Not someone already in office. Not someone with ambitions to run. A proper press sec, who could hold daily briefings at the Capitol once the KKKarolyin’ ends at the White House. All media would be welcome, from the mainstream to anyone banned by Trump, to Fox, Newsmax, OAN and their rightwing like.

My choice when I began Twitter-pitching my idea was Jessica Tarlov from Fox News, someone familiar to the MAGA audience, a consistently strong and truthful presence while enduring the smarmy proximity of Jesse Watters. She could absolutely handle the gig, but she’d probably have to take a pretty sizable pay cut.

Around the same time I was pushing for a Democratic press secretary, my friend Cheri Jacobus was doing the same. She was lobbying for Pete Buttigieg, but I believe he has ambitions for 2028. We need someone else. I think Cheri fits the bill.

Cheri has experience on both sides of the aisle, and we’ve had several conversations on her podcast about how simple it would be to create the Democratic position. Like, set up in less than a week for not a lot of money simple.

The media would have no choice but to cover a daily Democratic Press Briefing, aired live so no one could claim it was AI. The DNC does offer videos on YouTube, but I bet you didn’t know that until you read this sentence, and that’s not enough right now.

We need someone in front of the cameras every day, reading that day’s list of Democratic accomplishments while fact-checking whatever Karoline just lied about. Like a daily response to the State of the Union address.

Everyone I’ve spoken to about it agrees that it makes sense. But despite my personal invitation to the 2024 Convention from then DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, and despite mutual Twitter follows with current Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, my pleas have gone unacknowledged.

We have to keep demanding the truth from people we’ve entrusted with our livelihoods. Democrats have always delivered, and now it’s time to make sure the truth starts mattering more than being a dumb bully on a CNN panel or being afraid of a mean tweet. The American people deserve so much better.

Tara Dublin is a political writer/commentator based in Portland, OR, who has been blocked by Donald Trump on Twitter since August 2015 and can occasionally be heard as a fill-in host on SiriusXM Progress. She is also the author of The Sound of Settling, a rock ‘n’ roll love story available at taradublinrocks.com

'For God's sake, keep it up': Pete Buttigieg's impassioned plea to keep pressure on GOP

Pete Buttigieg has pleaded with members of the public to keep the pressure on the Republican Party.

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, the former Department of Transport head said Donald Trump and his administration were feeling the effects of political pressure from a growing discontent in the public. Buttigieg's video, titled 'The Ground is Shifting', called on people to keep criticizing the government and keeping the momentum.

He said, "Of course there is a very, very long way to go, fearsome and grotesque abuses are continuing even as we speak, and there has been an almost complete lack of accountability but the ground is clearly shifting because all of us together have been doing the work of shifting it.

"Things that can sound old fashioned, protesting, calling out members of Congress, even just speaking up in person or online, all of it is adding up to an accelerating change in the power dynamics of this country. It represents a live example of principle that hope can be the consequence of action, not just its cause.

"All of this is making good on our belief and ultimately, in this country, the people still direct the government, and not the other way around."

Buttigieg ended his statement by underlining just how important it was to keep the pressure on the GOP and Trump's administration, with the midterms set to take place in November this year.

Buttigieg added, "I know that it can seem like the shamelessness and the ruthlessness of the people in charge gives them the big advantage, but they have a massive disadvantage as well, which is that many of them know that what they're part of is wrong.

"The sooner they feel like they might have to answer for it one day, the sooner this house of cards will fall. We don't have much time to lose, so for God's sake, let's keep it up."

'Take away the car keys': Buttigieg slams Trump for 'unhinged' Norway letter

The former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has slammed Donald Trump over a letter the president sent to Norway.

In it, Trump confirmed to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre the US would look to subsume Greenland into its territory for the purpose of national security. In his letter, Trump also told Frederiksen that NATO members would have to do something for the US, rather than the US doing something for them.

The letter reads, "Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America."

"Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also."

"I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT."

Buttigieg has since denounced the letter and called on Americans to push back against Trump's rhetoric and keep the pressure on the GOP when it comes to healthcare subsidies.

He said in a video posted to his YouTube channel, "On the House side, pressure works, do not let up. Don't let up on Senate Republicans, and don't let up on the White House that those Senate Republicans tend to obey."

"Meanwhile, the president sent an unhinged message to Norway, like a 'take away the car keys' level of crazy message. Basically saying because the Norwegian government didn't give him the Nobel Peace Prize, the Danish government needs to give him Greenland or else he will punish all of Europe."

"This isn't just crazy and embarrassing, it is dangerous. These are our allies. I remember serving side by side with troops from Denmark in Afghanistan. These alliances have kept us safe for generations. Tearing them up makes all of us less safe, here at home."

Buttigieg went on to say Trump is bringing about a "destabilizing event" for the western world.

Trump's grip on power 'beginning to end' as Pete Buttigieg breaks down president's year

Pete Buttigieg believes Donald Trump's grip on presidential power is "beginning to end", with the former Secretary of Transport highlighting a rough first year.

The Trump administration has come under fire from both the Republican Party and Democratic representatives over healthcare, the cost-of-living crisis, and the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files. Buttigieg, speaking in a new years address uploaded to his YouTube account, has since shared his thoughts on the apparent power base in the White House shifting away from Trump.

He said there are "things happening in our politics that you wouldn't have thought possible just months ago" and cited examples from inside the Republican Party as where this shift is coming from.

Buttigieg said, "Even in the Republican Party, we saw evidence that the president's grip on power was beginning to end. We saw it on everything from the vote to release the Epstein files to what happened in Indiana redistricting."

"Then we saw election results happening not just on the East Coast, but in places like the South, with Democrats performing better than most optimistic scenarios had considered."

The former Secretary of Transport suggested the Democratic Party had a chance to make a difference with "an opening" for change. He said, "We have an opening right now for 2026 to be a year of dramatic and positive change in this country."

"If we stay focused and if we put in the work. What I'm going to be doing in 2026 is everything I can to help." It appears Trump is feeling the pressure of polling figures, too, with many network and independent polls showing the president has a low approval rating.

Trump tried to counter this with a post to Truth Social, claiming his approval rating was anywhere between 50% and 64%.

The president made a late night Truth Social post claiming he had actually received an approval rating of 64%, rather than the already high 50% on a graphic posted by Trump. The graphic, which reads, "Over 50% of voters approve of President Trump," comes from The Trafalgar Group, an opinion polling agency which has received criticism for inaccurate methodology in the past.

Trump took to Truth Social with a photo of the graphic, and wrote, "The polls are rigged even more than the writers. The real number is 64%, and why not, our Country is “hotter” than ever before. Isn’t it nice to have a STRONG BORDER, No Inflation, a powerful Military, and great Economy??? Happy New Year!"

‘Boot-edge-edge!’ Trump scolds Sean Duffy for correctly pronouncing ‘Buttigieg’

President Donald Trump playfully scolded Sean Duffy for mispronouncing "Buttigieg" during a White House press conference on Wednesday.

Duffy, Secretary of Transportation and acting administrator for NASA, was commenting on an announcement that the Trump administration is slashing fuel economy standards put in place by former President Joe Biden. The move is aimed at making it easier for automakers to sell gasoline-powered vehicles.

"Congress set a rule that says you have to look at combustion engines. Biden and Buttigieg actually did an analysis..." Duffy said, before Trump interjected to correct his pronunciation of Buttigieg, the last name of Pete Buttigieg, former Secretary of Transportation.

"Boot edge edge!" Trump exclaimed, correcting Duffy.

Laughter broke out among the lawmakers surrounding Trump and the press.

"Edge. Edge. I'm sorry," Duffy said.

DUFFY: Buttigieg--

TRUMP: Boot edge edge!

DUFFY: Edge Edge. I'm sorry pic.twitter.com/qza17YBAKx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 3, 2025

‘Wouldn’t last five minutes’: Buttigieg torches Trump over air traffic controller threat

Pete Buttigieg has said Donald Trump "wouldn't last five minutes" as an air traffic control employee.

The president hit out at air traffic controllers in a post to Truth Social on Monday, warning those who didn't return to work would have their pay "substantially docked." Buttigieg, the former secretary of transportation, responded to Trump's statement with a post of his own to X.

"The President wouldn't last five minutes as an air traffic controller, and after everything they've been through - and the way this administration has treated them from Day One - he has no business s----ing on them now," Buttigieg said.

Trump's statement on air traffic controllers came with a warning that those who did not return to work would not only be docked of their pay, but replaced by "true patriots."

"For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU," Trump railed. "You didn't step up to help the U.S.A. against the FAKE DEMOCRAT ATTACK that was only meant to hurt our Country. You will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record.

"If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind! You will be quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World, that we are in the process of ordering."

A call from Trump for air traffic controllers to return to work comes as a potential Senate vote could end the government shutdown. The Senate was expected to reconvene on Monday to end the longest government shutdown in history.

Travel delays were expected by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy if the shutdown continued. Duffy told CNN that flights could have been reduced "to a trickle" because of the shutdown.

He added, "Many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane, because there are not going to be that many flights that fly if this thing doesn't open back up."

Into the lion's den: Pete Buttigieg goes head-to-head with MAGA darling

Pete Buttigieg, who served as Secretary of Transportation under Joe Biden, had some advice for Democratic Party leaders before the 2026 midterms.

Buttigieg appeared on comedian Andrew Schulz's "Flagrant" podcast — known for its part in the pro-Trump manosphere — where he called out Republicans for not having any answers to some of the most pressing issues of our time.

In a promo for the podcast on X, Schulz described Buttigieg as the "future president."

"They don't have an answer. Their answer is, 'burn it all down,'" Buttigieg told Schulz. "If we haven't solved poverty, their answer is to slash Medicaid, which is what the Republican budget moving through Congress right now will do is slash Medicaid."

ALSO READ: 'Dictatorship, not a town hall': Families 'distraught' as MTG disruptors tased and jailed

Buttigieg continued, "Medicaid may not be perfect...I know for a fact many issues come up in the way it's administered, the way people have access to it. But I also know for a fact that if your answer to that is just to cut out a bunch of poor people — or VA, like any veteran can tell you the horror stories of all the times things didn't go right in dealing with the VA.

"But, if you think the answer is to just cut it, or just privatize it, that's not an answer. We can do better than that. And I think my party's job is to make clear what that looks like and how we would do it better."

Buttigieg also posted an article to his Substack titled, "Why I Sat Down for a Two-Hour Podcast That Recently Hosted Trump," concluding that "going everywhere means seeking out audiences that may have never heard our message at all."

Some on the left took issue with Buttigieg appearing for an hours-long interview with a pro-MAGA host, but Democratic strategist Mike Nellis posted that Dems could learn a thing or two from Buttigieg's efforts.

"Anybody mad about Pete Buttigieg going on Andrew Schulz's podcast is not serious about winning elections," Nellis wrote. "You have to meet people where they are—not expect them to come to you. The question you should be asking is why your favorite Democrat isn't going into the lion's den and defending our values?"

Watch the Flagrant podcast with Pete Buttigieg here.

'At least Mike Pence was polite': Buttigieg pokes J.D. Vance over and over at DNC

Pete Buttigieg relentlessly mocked Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance during his opening remarks at the Democratic National Convention.

Buttigieg kicked off his speech, themed on "the right kind of politics" by poking Vance over having the opposite.

After introducing himself with "you may know me from Fox News," Buttigieg laid into Vance.

"Don't even get me started on [Donald Trump's] new running mate," Buttigieg said, to a chorus of boos. "At least Mike Pence was polite."

ALSO READ: ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer hired by Trump campaign for Election 2024 endgame

After a smattering of laughs, Buttigieg said Vance looks like one of those guys who thinks if "you don't live the life he has in mind for you, then you don't count."

"Someone who said if you don't have kids, you don't have 'physical commitment to the future of this country,'" said Buttigieg, to more boos. "You know, senator, when I deployed to Afghanistan, I didn't have kids then. Many of the men and women who went outside the wire didn't have kids either. But let me tell you: Our commitment to the country was pretty damn physical."

The dig brought the audience to its feet, as Buttigieg kept on the offense.

"Choosing a guy like J.D. Vance to be America's next vice president sends a message: and the message is they are doubling down on negativity and grievance. Committing to a concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness. Darkness is what they are selling."

America, he said, is "not in the market for darkness."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Tim Walz 'brought that joy immediately!' Pete Buttigieg gushes over Harris' running mate

Tim Walz, the newly minted Democratic vice presidential candidate, found himself with a big fan Tuesday night — fellow "veepstakes" contender and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Buttigieg gushed over Walz in an interview with MSNBC host Jen Psaki on "Alex Wagner Tonight."

"I'm really excited," said Buttigieg. "Like you said, she had so many great directions she could go in. She also has found an extraordinary partner who has brought that joy immediately to the campaign trail."

Buttigieg emphasized that Walz can help the campaign deliver a message of unity.

ALSO READ: Tim Walz's personal finances are extraordinarily boring — and that may help Harris

"I think [it] sets up this ticket and this campaign even more than was already true to be about all of us," he said. "That's what I'm really excited about."

Americans can tell Walz is about cultivating and supporting other people, as evidenced by his experience in teaching, coaching and serving as a senior non-commissioned officer.

"I think it's one of the reasons why the Trump campaign can't figure out what to do with this ticket, even moreso today than what's been true ever since she became the nominee " he said, taking a shot at Harris' GOP rival. "They cannot fathom a campaign or any leaders who are not about themselves."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Harris set to name V.P. pick ahead of swing state tour

Kamala Harris will name her running mate as soon as Monday, as she prepares for a tour of US battleground states aimed at turning excitement over her presidential bid into durable support that can power her to victory.

All paths to the White House run through a handful of swing states, and Harris will kick off her five-day run Tuesday in the largest — Pennsylvania — as she builds momentum for her showdown with Republican Donald Trump on November 5.

“At this moment, we face a choice between two visions for our nation: one focused on the future and the other on the past… This campaign is about people coming together, fueled by love of country, to fight for the best of who we are,” she posted on X.

Fresh from winning enough delegate votes to secure the Democratic nomination, the country’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president heads into the national convention in Chicago in two weeks in total control of her party.

In a campaign that is barely two weeks old, the 59-year-old former prosecutor has obliterated fundraising records, attracted huge crowds and dominated social media on her way to erasing the polling leads Trump had built before President Joe Biden quit the race.

Next on the agenda is a vice presidential pick, with an announcement expected any time before her rally Tuesday evening alongside the mystery nominee in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city.

The Keystone State is the most prized real estate among the closely fought battlegrounds that decide the Electoral College system.

It is part of the “blue wall” that carried Biden to the White House in 2020, alongside Michigan and Wisconsin — two states where Harris is due to woo crowds on Wednesday.

Pennsylvania is governed by 51-year-old Democrat Josh Shapiro, a frontrunner in the so-called “veepstakes” shortlist that also includes fellow state governors Tim Walz and Andy Beshear, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

‘Freedom’

Later in the week, Harris will tour the more racially diverse Sun Belt and southern states of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, as she seeks to shore up the Black and Hispanic vote that had been peeling away from the Democrats.

Just a month ago, Trump was in cruise control, having opened a significant lead in swing state polling after a dismal debate performance by Biden, with the Republican tycoon keeping the country in suspense over his own vice-presidential pick.

Trump’s White House bid was upended on July 21 when 81-year-old Biden, facing growing concerns about his age and lagging polling numbers, exited the race and backed Harris.

Energetic and two decades younger than 78-year-old Trump, the vice president has made a fast start, raising $310 million in July, according to her campaign — more than double Trump’s haul.

While Biden made high-minded appeals for a return to civility and the preservation of democracy, Harris has focused on the future, making voters’ hard-fought “freedom” the touchstone of her campaign.

She and her allies have also been more aggressive than the Biden camp — mocking Trump for reneging on his commitment to a September 10 debate and characterizing the convicted felon as an elderly crook and “weird.”

While she has disavowed some of the leftist positions she took during her ill-fated 2020 primary campaign, Harris hasn’t given a wide-ranging interview since jumping into the race, and rally-goers will look for more detail on her plans for the country.

Meanwhile Trump and his Republicans have struggled to adapt to their new adversary or hone their attacks against Harris — at first messaging that she was dangerously liberal on immigration and crime, before suggesting she was lying about being Black.