A local South Bend, Indiana, newspaper has reported that Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been out of town for nearly half of 2019 as he campaigns for the Democratic Party nomination for president.
The South Bend Tribune reports:
SOUTH BEND — From Austin, Texas, to West Hollywood, Calif., South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s presidential bid has taken him out of town nearly half of the days in recent months, according to his daily calendar, news stories and information online.
Of the 120 days from Feb. 1 through May 31, Buttigieg was away or plans to be away from the South Bend area at least 55 days, or 45 percent of the calendar days.
Looking at only weekdays, he’s been gone or plans to be out of town for 39 of 86 days — also about 45 percent.
…
The travel also included a tour to promote his memoir, “Shortest Way Home.”
Read the full South Bend Tribune article here.
The newspaper also notes that the city administration redacted Buttigieg’s schedule on 45 of the 120 days reviewed. The mayor says that none of his travel has been paid for with public money.
South Bend has just over 100,000 residents and is home to the University of Notre Dame. Buttigieg has taken credit for the city’s economic recovery in recent years, though critics note that the economy has also recovered nationwide, and fault him for South Bend’s continued problems with infrastructure and crime.
Buttigieg, a Harvard graduate, Army veteran, and Rhodes scholar, has been mayor since 2012. He has long aspired to higher office, running unsuccessfully for Indiana state treasurer in 2010 and Democratic National Committee chair in 2017.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.