Pete Buttigieg Warns Party About Joe Biden: ‘There Is No Back to Normal’

Mayor Pete Buttigieg warned Democrats Saturday about trying to go “back to normal” to defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Buttigieg hinted that the Obama/Biden presidency and Hillary Clinton’s failed run for president was to blame for Trump’s surprise victory in 2016.

“There is no back to normal,” he said. “A president like this doesn’t even come within cheating distance of the Oval Office unless there’s something deeply wrong with the old normal.”

Buttigieg commented on the state of the race as he addressed Democrats at the California Democratic Party’s State Convention. Although he did not explicitly mention Joe Biden running in his speech, it was clear he was talking about the old guard in Washington like the former vice president.

Biden currently enjoys a double-digit lead over his Democrat rivals since launching his campaign in April.

Buttigieg cited his experience as a mayor in a red state to warn Democrats that Trump was elected by people in his state to send a message to “burn the house down” and that any attempted return to the old system would fail.

“He wins if we look like defenders of a system. He wins if we look like more of the same. He wins if we look more like Washington,” he said. “And so, the riskiest thing we can do is try too hard to play it safe.”

Buttigieg offered himself as the solution to the Democrat party seeking a way forward that was different than the past.

“Why not nominate a middle class, Millennial mayor with a track record from the industrial Midwest?” he asked.