Julián Castro Takes Aim at Pete Buttigieg, Says San Antonio 14 Times Bigger than South Bend

Democrat presidential hopeful and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro took aim at former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor and fellow presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday night, claiming their “experience level is different.”

Castro, who once served as mayor of San Antonio, made the comments during an appearance on The Daily Show, which features host Trevor Noah.

“I was mayor of a city that’s 14 times larger than South Bend. In fact, we could almost fit South Bend in our Alamodome in San Antonio,” Castro told Noah.

Noah then inquired about Buttigieg’s recent surge in the Democrat presidential primary, pointing directly to both of the candidates’ support from black voters.

“I have a lot of respect for Mayor Buttigieg, but I do think that our experience level is different. I don’t need to go see South Bend. I saw a hundred different cities when I was HUD secretary,” Castro stated.

Noah also asked Castro whether he was truly able to stay in the presidential race, noting that former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke “said to my face that he was not going to drop out of the race. Then he dropped out four days later.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Castro said. “We just hit our fundraising goal. … We’re working hard on the race.”

“Either that or I’m going to say that you were the curse,” Castro added.

Noah then pushed Castro again on the issue of support from black voters.

“I actually have a good track record with black voters,” Castro said. “It’s risky to have a candidate at the top of the ticket that cannot speak to, in a convincing way, those different communities.”