Pete Buttigieg Rejects Idea Antisemitism Could Doom Jewish Presidential Hopefuls

So there is this push now to impeach Pete Hegseth. And there is a resolution and it could pass as early as next week in the House. It could quickly go over to the Senate. I don't understand why this isn't more of a long play for the Democrats, because if Hegseth goes before January, Trump can get a new guy in that may not be to the liking of Democrats and Democrats won't have a say in the Senate because they're in the minority until until January. So why not sit back and wait? Until you, until you get power. Yeah, you know, I don't know all the ins and outs there. Obviously, anybody that the president is going to put into that role, probably not somebody that Democrats are going to love. Although, remember, in the past, there were credible figures like General Mattis, people who had an extraordinary military record and reviewed as nonpartisan. Now, it's more kind of a Trump one thing than a Trump two thing. But look, the bottom line here is. The Iran war has been such a drag on the country's safety, on everyday life in this country. And Pete Hegseth was a Fox News character who got put in charge of the most important organization in the world, which is the American military, and has made it clear again and again that he has no business in that leadership role. And I think part of what you're also seeing is that Republicans are fed up with him. But if they think that tossing him to the wolves is This is going to satisfy the American public about the bigger picture here and the broader failures that start with President Trump himself. They are probably on the wrong track. Bottom line for my dime is not all Secretary Pete's are alike. This is a guy who just never had any business in this job. I think the American people can see it. Yeah, I mean, that's what we were saying. Like if you wait until January, You may force Trump to get someone who is. Actually qualify for it because he knows that he's got to pass, he's got to get through the Senate when the Democrats are in control. If you do it now, who knows what you get. Look, either way, we're going to see a lot of acting people would be my guess, because, you know, the president's going to fill vacancies often with people that the Senate's just not going to want to confirm. Certainly a Democratic Senate wouldn't. And look, sometimes that happens, you know, even in a more normal period of government. We had an outstanding deputy secretary of labor named Julie Su. During the Biden administration, she helped address some of these strikes that could have been crippling to our transportation system. The Senate wouldn't act, so she remained an acting secretary. She still did a great job, again. I'm not saying I'm forecasting acting secretaries in this next Trump administration to do a great job. But I do think that either way, we just got to keep a close watch on what these people are actually doing, whether they get confirmed to the roles or not, whatever their titles are. We got two more years where this president, as he grows politically weaker, may well grow more dangerous. And Congress and the American people need to stay on our toes. So before we get into 2028, I'm wondering about the next two years. So The Democrats are in control. I know that it is consequential when it comes to the budget. But Donald Trump has a history of defying Congress and sometimes defying courts. And I have been thinking since Tuesday that Donald Trump doesn't have a whole lot to lose because the Supreme Court has given him immunity. So why? Are the Democrats so sanguine in thinking, oh, well, we now have control because, A, he has veto power, and B, he seems to do what he wants to do, irrespective of what the guardrails are? I think you're right. This could be a very dangerous period for the country. Look, this is obviously not somebody who can be humbled by anything. And even though he just led his party to an absolute landslide wipeout of defeat, it doesn't mean he's going to respond to that by changing his ways. But I do think there's an opportunity for Democrats taking power in Congress, if not the White House, to make it clear what it is that we're actually about, what it is we're for, not just stopping Donald Trump and trying to prevent the worst outcomes of his worst abuses, but actually trying to get things done for the American people. There are so many things that most Americans, including many Republicans, agree that we should do, expanding Medicaid, raising the minimum wage, doing something about AI so that it's not a runaway technology. A fairer tax code, things like political reform, stopping partisan gerrymandering. I think that we should get these passed one by one by one. See if the president will sign any of them. This is not a guy who deeply cares about policy. If he thinks he can take credit for something that we want, which is to put money back in the pockets of the American people, we should be prepared for that. Now, of course, equally likely that he will veto those good policies. And then if we can't get the good policy, we at least get a good fight because it will be impossible to ignore who's on the side of the American people. As a, I wanted to ask you about speaking of things that. Who knows how Trump is going to react as a member, a retired member of the military. How do you feel about the triumphal arc going up in D.C. at the gates of Arlington National Cemetery? Look, I've walked Section 60, the part of Arlington National Cemetery where the war dead from the global war on terror are buried, including people that I knew and served with. The idea of putting that in the shadow of a monument to the ego of a president who used his father's connections to get out of serving when it was his turn as a millionaire teenager is a pretty disgusting thing to contemplate. That being said, the biggest thing we need to focus on now, obviously, when it comes to the military, is this war in Iran that's going on right now. There will be plenty enough time later for dealing with the president's architectural ambitions. Right now, we got to make sure that we keep this country safe, and the war in Iran has made America less safe. Okay, so 2028. I was fascinated by this and thought about you this morning When Congressman Jim Clyburn came out and said, you know, We should be looking at governors because they have executive experience. I found that interesting for a couple of reasons. One, there's a guy named Pete Buttigieg who also has executive experience running a department, and that seems to align, although he didn't say it. But number two, I think there's something to it. I run a company that's got a couple hundred people, and sometimes it is a nightmare. And it takes time to learn how to do it, and it took me a long time, and I bet it took you a long time, too. So does Representative Clyburn know of what he speaks when he says that maybe senators are not the best people to look at because they haven't run stuff? You know, I think he makes a really important point. And he's somebody who obviously knows this terrain well, both in terms of being a great legislator. And I worked with him when I was secretary and we were delivering the transportation bill and delivering a lot of investments in South Carolina. But also in the kinds of people that he's worked with over the years. Look, I learned so much being the mayor of my city that I never would have known until I did that. And then when I went from running a 1,000-person organization that was the city administration to the U.S. Department of Transportation with tens of thousands of employees and a budget of $150 billion, which is bigger than the GDP of most countries. Yeah, there's just things you learn about how the world works and how government works and even things you learn about yourself. that are different than what you learn from being in politics in a different way. And it's a funny thing about our system. There are senators, members of Congress who are very senior, who are nationally known, but who have never in their lives managed more than a few dozen people. And I do think there's just a different mentality sometimes between somebody who has legislated, somebody who has led an organization. And of course, there's plenty of people out there who've done both. So, you have the experience. How are you feeling now about the run? I know you've been asked several times this year, and you've said that you're open to anything. Do the results of the election this week make you feel stronger one way or another? Well, they're definitely encouraging. You know, the work we were able to get done, the success of efforts to help make sure that great leaders get elected, great causes to some of these ballot initiatives, like what they just did in Montana with money and politics. I was proud to support that effort. So all of that, of course, has been encouraging. That being said, you know, I think there are some folks who maybe were waiting for election day to come, and within days of that, they'd be making national announcements. I'm not going to be one of those people. You're not going to see me making some kind of big announcement in the next few weeks. There's time enough for that. One focus I have right now is as we prepare to have this new majority, we've got to make sure that we use it well, which is why I really am. Pressing both in public and in private the importance of a Democratic agenda that is putting money back in people's pockets, dealing with the issues that the Democrats have been hired to do and not getting lost in some of the other kind of shiny objects that come along in political life. When we have a chance here. To show the country what Democrats are about. Remember, Republicans just got defeated. That doesn't mean everybody just suddenly fell in love with the Democratic Party. This majority that we've just earned, we've got to use it well. And there's a lot of conversations going on right now about how to make sure that the moment these leaders take office in January, that they're ready to come out of the gate running. Yeah, I want to talk about the Democratic Party. Would you mind, Can I give you a personal opinion and I want to see how you react? You know, there has been this wave of antisemitism across the country, and there has been some of it in the Democratic Party that has made Jews, some of them feel, you know, uncomfortable at various levels. I really doubt, personally doubt, that a Jew can become the nominee of the Democratic Party for president. And I'm talking about John Ossoff and Governor Shapiro. And I say that because I'm thinking about the primary debates. And somebody is going to say to them. Everybody who believes that the Jews, that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza War, raise your hand. And I see questions like that being asked and disqualifying Jews. And I think there is an element of that in the party that would make it almost impossible for anybody who is Jewish. To get the nomination. So I hear you. I know where that comes from. But I don't share that pessimism. Look, there is no denying that there's been an explosion of anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States. We've seen it on the far right. And we've seen it in some corners of the left as well. But another thing I would say is that I think it is absolutely possible to be critical of the actions and choices of the Israeli government and also to be absolutely full-throated and And one hundred percent clear. That anti-Semitism is intolerable. And, you know, one thing I've noticed is that some of the most eloquent and important voices criticizing Israel's conduct of the war have been Jewish voices. And many of those have been voices from within the Democratic Party. And by the way, and by the way, mine, too, in terms of the way Netanyahu handled it. Exactly. So, look, I know this is a painful issue, and I think it will continue to be in our coalition, but I think that there will be many leaders who manage to hold space for multiple things that are true at the same time. Concern, more than concern, anger over the choices of the Netanyahu government and Israel's conduct of the war. And a commitment to the safety of the Israeli people and a commitment to the dignity and safety and human rights of Palestinian people and clarity that all forms of hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and any other form of hate has no business being on American soil. I know that sounds like a lot to handle. It is a lot to handle. All of those things are correct. All of those things are true. It has to be the case that all of those things can be compatible, too. And I'm drawn to leaders who have a way of voicing that. And I think Jewish leaders, and not only Jewish leaders, will be capable of rising to that challenge in our political life, both right now in Congress and then, I trust, in the presidential debates, too. All right. Well, we've got one more question. Come on. How are the kids? Kids. They're great. We had a great Halloween. Halloween, um... I think it took a day or two for the sugar to kind of work its way through their system. Our little guy's getting pretty, we made a birdhouse the other day. Lots of fun painting, but now he's so excited to have a hammer that he just takes it apart and puts it back together all day. And I think our daughter's ready for her next hobby too, but we can't seem to decide what it's going to be. Well, tell your son not, he should not build an arch. Okay. This is the little one. This is the little one. By the way, how old will they be in, say, two years? Oh, geez. Well, they're five now, so I guess they'll be seven. Seven. All right. You've got some interesting decisions to make. We do. But, you know, every family has a lot to balance, and we're no exception.