Out former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized President Donald Trump’s “carnival of corruption” during his speech at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty & Justice dinner last Sunday. The speech ramped up expectations that Buttigieg may run for president in 2028.
“Right now, what’s at stake is nothing less than the American dream. It is endangered. If you were born the year that my mother was born, at the end of World War II, there is a 90% chance that you would come out ahead and live better than how you were born. If you were born when I was, in the early ’80s, it’s a coin flip, 50-50, and headed in the wrong direction,” Buttigieg said, according to The Hill.
Related
Insights for the LGBTQ+ community
Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
“It is not too much to ask that the wealthiest country in the world have the best healthcare in the world,” he said, “and that it have the best-funded public schools in the world. It is not to much to ask that the largest corporations and wealthiest people in this country pay at least as much of their income and wealth in taxes as a school teacher or a bus driver or firefighter.”
“So what’s it going to be for your kids, for my kids? That’s up to us. And it starts with admitting that our economy is unfair because our politics is unfair,” he said. “The reason that so many things are wrong with our economic picture is that so many things are wrong with our political system…. You can see it in the carnival of corruption that is Washington, D.C., today.”
“Corporate dark money flowing into campaigns everywhere we look. Congressmen trading stocks while they take votes that move markets. The leader of the free world flying around in a second-hand jumbo jet from a foreign country while he makes a billion dollars on crypto deals propped up by foreign leaders,” he said.
“We are in this moment where politics is drifting into worse and weirder territory every single day,” he continued. “Around here, we know that healthcare isn’t an ideological football— it’s something our lives depend on…. we know the environment isn’t some academic concern…. we know the economy isn’t the same as the stock market… we know that political power is supposed to rest with the people and it’s supposed to rise from the ground up.”
“Around here, we know that your voice in our democracy should have absolutely nothing to do with whether you happen to have $1 million lying around to get into Mar-a-lago or cut a super PAC check,” he added. “We know service isn’t about making yourself rich or about making yourself powerful; service is about making yourself useful…. We know there is more to life that partisan political combat…. We know the American flag does not belong to one political side in this country.”
Buttigieg said that people in lower income, rural, and industrial “fly over” communities are told that their best days are behind them and that, if they want to improve their lives, they should leave those communities. He said he and other local community members reject that thinking and know that the presidency isn’t the only political race that matters.
“What propels us in this work is not simply that we are opposed to the current White House and to those who are in power… That’s only part of it,” he continued. “We’re also here to offer a vision for how much better things could get.”
Buttigieg’s speaking gig has amped up speculation that he’ll run for president in 2028. The July 12 event is the state Democratic Party’s largest event of the year, and one that often draws big-name political figures.
Buttigieg has pretty much admitted that he plans on running for president. He has been touring the country, holding town hall events, speaking at local Democratic functions, and showing his support for candidates up for reelection this year. These appearances have notably included several early primary states, like New Hampshire.
A poll from May showed that Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are the Democratic frontrunners among Americans who were asked about voting in a 2028 presidential primary. An early poll of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters also showed Buttigieg coming out on top of other potential Democratic candidates — Buttigieg spent three days during February in the state, holding town hall events and campaigning with local Democrats.
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.