- With his strong showing in Iowa and surge in New Hampshire, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg's list of critics is expanding across the ideological spectrum.
- After Buttigieg beat former Vice President Joe Biden, in Iowa and is set to do the same in New Hampshire, moderates began to turn their ire on the former mayor.
- Rather than attacking his policies and rhetoric - as progressives long have - moderates like Biden are challenging Buttigieg's qualifications and experience, and asserting he's not prepared to be president.
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Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg has long drawn the ire of progressives, particularly the young and online subset. But with his strong showing in Iowa and surge in New Hampshire, he's now attracting sustained attacks from across the ideological spectrum.
Despite being by far the youngest candidate in the race, the 38-year-old millennial has for months polled in the low single digits among voters under 35. And even though he's competing against several moderate boomers, Buttigieg does best among voters over 65.
As Buttigieg has gained in national polls and surpassed Sanders in Iowa delegates, the left-wing backlash against him as only intensified.
Young progressives, many of whom support Sen. Bernie Sanders, take issue with his centrist approach to healthcare policy, college debt, and federal spending. They argue his alleged "outsider" status is fraudulent, as he's the child of academics, and a product of the Ivy League, Oxford, and the consulting firm McKinsey.
They credit much of his rapid rise to a strategy that prioritizes platitudes over policy and is greased by white male privilege. He's been dubbed "Mayo Pete," "a billionaire bootlicker," and become the subject of countless disparaging TikToks.
The socialist magazine Jacobin regularly tears Buttigieg apart in pieces with headlines like: "Mayor Pete Buttigieg Is Even Worse Than He Seems" and "Pete Buttigieg's Elite-Friendly Politics Won't Help the Marginalized."
But as Buttigieg beat Joe Biden, in Iowa and is set to place higher than the former vice president in New Hampshire, moderates are also starting to turn their ire on the former mayor.
Instead of attacking Buttigieg's policies, they're questioning his qualifications and experience.
Biden challenged Buttigieg's record in a new video ad released Saturday that compares Biden's accomplishments in the Senate and the White House with the mayor's relatively less impactful record in South Bend.
The former vice president repeatedly attack Buttigieg after Iowa, warning it would be "a risk" to nominate someone so young and relatively inexperienced. And he brushed away comparisons between Buttigieg and then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008.
"This guy's not a Barack Obama," Biden said.
Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to Biden, bluntly told CNN on Monday that Buttigieg wouldn't be ready to serve as commander-in-chief on day one in office.
Been trying to explain the millennial rage toward Buttigieg to my parents & this boils it down. Boomers used social programs to build wealth, then voted in electeds who dismantled those programs. We want the programs back; Buttigieg agrees w/boomers who claim we don't need them. https://t.co/o7eEAPyvkg
- Rebecca Fishbein (@bfishbfish) February 9, 2020i said Mayo Pete 2020 https://t.co/bmmZj3MZlV pic.twitter.com/fFdNQWykRU
- digital kristen [angel] (@kristensoulina) November 10, 2019damn i really tried to add my own flair at the end but it got cut off😥 https://t.co/Db279uhvuK pic.twitter.com/lZ48IufWgt
- eleanor (@420hondaodyssey) November 14, 2019.@PeteButtigieg is such an inspiring candidate pic.twitter.com/NseCihDQcR
- digital jake (@YDSgAy) November 10, 2019Whatever his shortcomings, you have to admit Mayor Pete embodies a classic American archetype: traveling Bible salesman who charms all the church ladies in every small town he passes through before ultimately being investigated for insurance fraud.
- Mara Smith (@namarasmith) February 9, 2020.@JohnBerman: "Do you think Pete Buttigieg will be ready [to lead the nation] on day one?"
Senior advisor to Joe Biden's campaign, Symone Sanders: "No"https://t.co/aCCeTXrD67 pic.twitter.com/OEA83IkRRX
- New Day (@NewDay) February 10, 2020Every time Mayor Pete says this bullshit I really find him more annoying. Also-big giant urban locations (where lots of dems live!) are full of good, kind, honest, hardworking people too. Can Mayor Pete's people tell him to stop with this crap. https://t.co/SulBvwrxdO
- Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) February 9, 2020