General Discussion

”I’m not saying it’s not a thing, but I’m saying it’s been extraordinary how people look past that,” Buttigieg explained. “When I came out, I was in the middle of reelection in my home town in Mike Pence’s Indiana, and I wound up getting a higher proportion of the vote than the first time, because the city I was mayor of thought I did a good job.”

He continued, “When I ran for president, part of how I won Iowa was that I wound up doing especially well in right-leaning and conservative counties, these counties that voted for Obama and then voted for Trump.”

“So what that tells me is whoever you are and whatever your personal biography or attributes are, if you can explain to people what you have to offer and get them to believe in you and your vision,” Buttigieg said, “despite all of the things that stand in the way of fairness in this country, the truth is it’s extraordinary what people can and will do.”