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
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foregroundThe Explainer The network is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fallThe Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pauseThe Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
