Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday for an airing of State of the Union and was pressed about whether he would match Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s pledge not to award positions to her top donors should she be elected president.
The former South Bend, Indiana mayor claimed he would appoint ambassadors based on their job qualifications and not consider any of their previous donations to his campaign, Business Insider reports.
“If I’m trying to figure out who ought to be a senior envoy to deal with, let’s say, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and somebody emerges as the right person for that job with the best qualifications, are they going to turn out to be disqualified because they came to a house party for my campaign years earlier?” Buttigieg asked.
Tapper clarified that his question was referencing “big-dollar donors,” to which Buttigieg noted that the donation limit is $2,800. The CNN host didn’t appear to buy Buttigieg’s response, pointing to super PACs and donation bundling that can be used to bypass campaign donation ceilings.
“You know how it works,” Tapper said.
Buttigieg doubled down on his previous comment, suggesting that he would appoint candidates based on “merits” and not on previous support for his campaign.
The 37-year-old politician’s comments are not likely to gain him any support from critics, who have long pointed to his recent pivot from the progressive platform he started with to a more centrist lane. Discontent with the former mayor’s current positions has been so high that some supporters have asked for donations back, as indicated by #RefundPete trending on Twitter.
Per The Intercept , Buttigieg recently took heat for a fundraiser he held in a Napa Valley wine cave. Although some wealthy individuals came forward to defend the decision, the publication noted that a recent poll suggested the majority of Americans believe “corruption in our political system” is a serious problem — more so than climate change, increased health care costs, and unauthorized immigration.
In response, Buttigieg opted to attack fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren for her past glitzy fundraisers to minimize the damage he took from the attacks.
“The media and the Buttigieg campaign have responded to the wine cave assault not with an exploration of the connection between high-dollar donations and policy results, but by searching for the safer ground of hypocrisy,” The Intercept report reads.
Buttigieg’s past work at McKinsey & Company has also drawn scrutiny. The company has been involved in many questionable business enterprises . Buttigieg reportedly worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and Loblaws. According to Business for Medicare for All President Wendell Potter, BCBS works to minimize medical care provision and maximize bills, noting that Buttigieg’s health care plan is designed to protect such companies.
