Mayor Pete Buttigieg demonstrated his radical left agenda at the first night of CNN Democrat presidential primary debates on Tuesday.
“We’ve got to summon the courage to walk away from the past and do something different,” Buttigieg said during his opening statement. “This is our shot.”
Buttigieg was not attacked for his leftist views by some of the more moderate Democrats on the stage, but he quietly defended most of the radical agenda voiced by the far-left candidates, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
The mayor began by warning that the planet had only 11 years before a climate catastrophe and that a woman’s right to abortion might not exist in 10 years.
He eagerly defended his proposal to pack the Supreme Court with 15 justices, end the electoral college, and reverse the Citizens United campaign finance decision.
Buttigieg equated Trump to white supremacist David Duke, accusing Republicans of saying nothing in response.
“When David Duke ran for governor. the Republican party 20 years ago ran away from him,” he said. “Today, they are supporting naked racism in the White House or are at best silent about it.”
Regarding the war in Afghanistan, Buttigieg stood out for saying he would completely withdraw all troops from the war in his first year as president and end the 2002 authorization of military force for conflicts overseas.
Buttigieg called for a pathway to citizenship for all illegal immigrants in America and argued that crossing the border illegally should be handled by civil courts rather than being a criminal offense. He clarified, however, that immigration fraud should remain criminal.
He argued in favor of a Medicare for All government program, confidently saying it would easily crater the private health insurance industry if voters were offered a choice.
On guns, Buttigieg called for an “end” to semiautomatic “assault” weapons, stating there was no need for them in the United States in times of peace.
He also defended a $15 an hour minimum wage, accusing “so-called” Christian Republicans of hypocrisy by voting to block it.
“The racial divide lives within me,” he said, referring to his time as a mayor of an urban city.
He argued that “systemic racism” had hurt minorities in housing, health, employment, and homeownership.
Buttigieg defended the idea of embracing a far-left agenda, noting that Republicans would call Democrats “socialists” no matter what they supported.
“If we embrace a far-left agenda, they’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists,” he said. “So let’s just stand up for the right policy, go out there, and defend it.”
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