Pete Buttigieg Meets with Hillary Clinton Despite Criticizing Her 2016 Campaign

Mayor Pete Buttigieg met with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, according to the Hill’s Amie Parnes.

The South Bend mayor met with Clinton at her office in New York City, as part of his media tour. Neither Clinton nor Buttigieg posted pictures of the meeting on their Instagram accounts.

In January, Buttigieg criticized Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

“Donald Trump got elected because, in his twisted way, he pointed out the huge troubles in our economy and our democracy,” he said in an interview with the Washington Post. “At least he didn’t go around saying that America was already great like Hillary did.”

In March, Buttigieg criticized Clinton for spending too much time talking about Trump in 2016 instead of focusing on Democratic policies.

“We spent, I think, way too much time on our side talking about him,” he Buttigieg. “Our whole message was don’t vote for him because he is terrible. And even because he is, that is not a message.”

Former Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill denounced Buttigieg in response to his critique.

This is indefensible. @HillaryClinton ran on a belief in this country & the most progressive platform in modern political history. Trump ran on pessimism, racism, false promises, & vitriol. Interpret that how you want, but there are 66,000,000 people who disagree. Good luck. https://t.co/N3yRgHPVDL

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) March 30, 2019

Buttigieg clarified afterward that he respected Clinton but felt she was “ill-served” by her campaign.

“Just to make this clear, I think America would be a much better place if she were President,” Buttigieg said. “That’s why I voted for her and that’s why I campaigned for her, and I have enormous respect for Secretary Clinton.”