Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg plans to spend his remaining Iowa campaign days focusing on areas that supported President Donald Trump in 2016, in an attempt to win them back to the Democrat party.
In a memo to reporters, a Buttigieg staffer explained that the former South Bend mayor would focus on counties that voted for Trump in 2016, but also supported former President Barack Obama in 2012.
“In order to win in 2020, Democrats need to nominate a candidate that can build a broad coalition and win back some of those voters,” the memo read, noting that Buttigieg had spent time in 23 of the 31 Iowa counties that saw support shift from Obama to Trump.
Buttigieg will participate in a second Fox News Town Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday as part of his effort to win back Democrats who might have supported Trump.
“Pete’s ability to connect and resonate with voters all across Iowa makes him the best candidate to take on Donald Trump,” the memo read, sharing quotes from Republicans who spoke positively of Buttigieg to the media.
But Buttigieg has spent months on the campaign describing Trump supporters as racist.
In July, Buttigieg wrote off many Trump supporters as “committed racists” who he did not care to win.
“The reality is there are a lot of committed racists whose vote I’m never going to get and that’s alright,” Buttigieg said.
In September, Buttigieg was asked in a Democrat debate whether people who supported President Trump’s immigration policies were racist.
“Anyone who supports this is supporting racism,” Buttigieg replied.
In December, Buttigieg accused Americans who voted for Trump of “looking the other way on racism.”
“Anyone who supported this President is, at best, looking the other way on racism,” he said in South Carolina.