Trevor Noah tries to answer all your questions about Pete Buttigieg, the almost-too-perfect 2020 Democrat

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is getting a surprisng amount of attention in his run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. And people have a lot of questions. The first one? "How do you pronounce this guy's name?" Trevor Noah said on Wednesday's Daily Show. "It's pronounced Pete — it's like 'peaches,' but you just stop. ... Oh, and as for his last name, we're still figuring that one out." He settled on "Mayor Pete," or if you need to go further, "it's Boot-eh-zhej. But now that we're all on the same page on how to say his name, what has he done?" A lot, especially for a man of 37.

"I can see why people are impressed by Buttigieg," Noah said. "He has such a unique bio: He's a veteran, a Harvard graduate, and a Rhodes Scholar who's openly gay and also so young that if he served two terms as president, when he came out he would still only be 46. Plus, he's a concert pianist and speaks seven languages, including Norwegian, which he learned just so that he could read Norwegian books. Compare that to America's current president, who has read zero books and is fluent in zero languages."

Buttigieg has also done impressive things as mayor, and he talks eloquently about how his young age is an asset. "Now, if you're watching this going, 'Trevor, why are you only showing us the positive things about Pete Buttigieg?' Because that's all we could find, all right?" Noah said. "No, I'm being serious. There's no dirt on this guy. Like, nothing." He found that a little suspicious and even alarming, but said it's nothing a little blackface couldn't fix. Watch below. Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up