Call it “Boy Meets World.”
Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg, the youthful former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, got a rude awakening Tuesday during a campaign stop at a union event in Charleston, South Carolina.
It didn’t go as planned – unless Buttigieg planned on being taunted by protesters, then basically chased to his waiting vehicle while trying to conduct a harried television interview.
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Pete Buttigieg confronted by minimum wage, racial justice protesters at South Carolina union event https://t.co/wgTGtedRao pic.twitter.com/crr82Htmj3
— TIME (@TIME) February 24, 2020
As WCBD reported, Buttigieg joined a group of McDonald’s protesters demonstrating for a $15 an hour minimum wage – more than twice the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Showing off his regular-guy side, Buttigieg wore no jacket and had his sleeves partially rolled up for the occasion, pledging his support for a higher minimum wage.
He got a fair reception at first from the crowd — which had a marching chant of “We work! We sweat! Put 15 in our check” — but things soon went south, as U.S. News and World Report noted.
“He can’t be our president! Where was 15 in South Bend?” some protesters chanted.
Here’s the video again, skipping the preliminary speech.
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The sight of a presidential contender being hustled away from a crowd of working-class voters is never good. It’s especially bad when that presidential contender is a Democrat trying to convince his fellow Democrats that he really understands the problems of the poor.
(Considering the 38-year-old Buttigieg thinks his scant – so far – career of a military service and the mayoralty of Indiana’s fourth-largest city qualifies him to be the commander in chief of the world’s greatest military while presiding over a nation of more than 300 million souls, Buttigieg probably thinks he understands everything, including the problems of the poor.)
And the reception on social media was the kind that must make campaign managers want to stay in bed with their blankets over their heads.
“Pete can’t be our President, where was $15 in South Bend?” The protesters continued until Buttigieg cut his remarks short after just five minutes and started to leave.https://t.co/tx1OHwyAlB
— Zero G Badillion (@ZeroGBadillion) February 25, 2020
They ain’t having Pete. He runs to his car, shielded by women. The chant: Pete can’t be our President, where was 15 in South Bend? https://t.co/qacRzXkHLU
— Vivien Bledsoe (@chipmunkedy) February 25, 2020
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Louisiana man accused of killing deputy US marshal faces possible death penalty
Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in ‘gesture of goodwill’
Tim Walz offers strange defense for pardoning convicted child rapist Trump administration deported
Nevada Lt Gov: Elon Musk could make space tourism state’s next big industry
Bloodhound K-9 unit helps bring Georgia manhunt to end with arrest of suspect accused of shooting woman
EXCLUSIVE: Pence pushes to rename bill for Lindsey Graham, recalls final talk: ‘Bring Putin to the table’
Trump says ‘proud American veterans’ will replace illegal immigrant truck drivers
Former Marine running for Congress says Trump is the Antichrist and ‘must be killed’ in shocking video
‘She saw dollar signs’: Former Obama counsel pressed over years-long Epstein ties
Tim Scott floats Lindsey Graham’s sister as permanent successor
Ex-Dem fundraiser torches Biden as book launch implodes: ‘No one wants to read’
It was a photo op for Buttigieg. He didn’t even mention worker’s rights or $15 when spoke, he did his campaign spiel. 😆
Hear them ask him?
— Janet Iannarone (@JanetIannarone) February 24, 2020
😁😁 Pete fighting for 15,… Minutes of fame. #DemDebate2020 #FeelTheBern2020 https://t.co/jCLQJfVVJF
— SirCosmoKramer (@sircosmokramer) February 25, 2020
But many of the responses bashed the protesters, too.
Open the borders and flood the US with workers and watch what happens with supply and demand in minimum wage jobs, lots and lots of supply, will keep wages low. – But reality has no place in politics.
— Ed Jackson (@Roderickoooo) February 24, 2020
What union is that? All you can eat union?
— Dude (@dudeisback4) February 24, 2020
Two families sue North Dakota hospital on allegations babies were switched at birth
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Karoline Leavitt to hold first press briefing since return from maternity leave
Louisiana man accused of killing deputy US marshal faces possible death penalty
Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in ‘gesture of goodwill’
Tim Walz offers strange defense for pardoning convicted child rapist Trump administration deported
Nevada Lt Gov: Elon Musk could make space tourism state’s next big industry
Bloodhound K-9 unit helps bring Georgia manhunt to end with arrest of suspect accused of shooting woman
EXCLUSIVE: Pence pushes to rename bill for Lindsey Graham, recalls final talk: ‘Bring Putin to the table’
Trump says ‘proud American veterans’ will replace illegal immigrant truck drivers
Former Marine running for Congress says Trump is the Antichrist and ‘must be killed’ in shocking video
‘She saw dollar signs’: Former Obama counsel pressed over years-long Epstein ties
Tim Scott floats Lindsey Graham’s sister as permanent successor
Ex-Dem fundraiser torches Biden as book launch implodes: ‘No one wants to read’
I guess he’s not getting the black McDonald worker vote. Let’s go to John King at the Magic Wall. John…what percentage does the black McDonald’s worker vote total in the US? pic.twitter.com/urHzkqt1C9
— Josh Michael 🌈 ⚽️🏈⚾️ (@JoshMayhugh1) February 24, 2020
Basically, it was a clash of naiveté – or opportunism.
The phrase “Fight for 15” might sound good on a Democratic Party to-do list, but the experience where it’s tried shows just how job-killing it is.
Buttigieg might know that, but it’s not stopping him from attempting to pander to the union vote – an all-important voting bloc in a Democratic primary.
The protesters might or might not know it, but if they do, they just think they’re going to be one of the lucky ones who gets the higher-paying job.
But above all, it was a public relations disaster for Buttigieg’s already presumptuous presidential campaign, which at 9.8 percent isn’t even in the double digits in voter support among South Carolina voters, according to RealClearPolitics.
(Former Vice President Joe Biden is in first place in what amounts to a do-or-die contest for him with 26.8 percent support. Vermont’s socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders is in second with 21.7 percent and climate activist/billionaire Tom Steyer is in third with 14.7 percent.)
With Saturday’s Democratic primary in the Palmetto State fast approaching, public embarrassment isn’t going to help much.
Major mainstream media are likely to bury the story – if it had happened to a Republican it would be leading every nightly newscast – but video and audio of a boy prince who wants to be king being hounded out of an event by a group that’s among his party’s biggest supporters is not the look Buttigieg wanted in South Carolina.
Two families sue North Dakota hospital on allegations babies were switched at birth
ICE arrests record 238 illegal immigrants in one day during South Texas enforcement operation
Lindsey Graham’s final act reverberates in Senate as sister is urged to “keep pedaling”
Karoline Leavitt to hold first press briefing since return from maternity leave
Louisiana man accused of killing deputy US marshal faces possible death penalty
Trump says Iran released American woman held since 2024 in ‘gesture of goodwill’
Tim Walz offers strange defense for pardoning convicted child rapist Trump administration deported
Nevada Lt Gov: Elon Musk could make space tourism state’s next big industry
Bloodhound K-9 unit helps bring Georgia manhunt to end with arrest of suspect accused of shooting woman
EXCLUSIVE: Pence pushes to rename bill for Lindsey Graham, recalls final talk: ‘Bring Putin to the table’
Trump says ‘proud American veterans’ will replace illegal immigrant truck drivers
Former Marine running for Congress says Trump is the Antichrist and ‘must be killed’ in shocking video
‘She saw dollar signs’: Former Obama counsel pressed over years-long Epstein ties
Tim Scott floats Lindsey Graham’s sister as permanent successor
Ex-Dem fundraiser torches Biden as book launch implodes: ‘No one wants to read’
Boy met world on Monday – and the world wasn’t a welcoming place.
Story cited here.
