Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticizes Trump, Fox News pundits Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham in Fox News town hall

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 20 May 2019

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace at a town hall event in New Hampshire on Sunday, and he didn't shy away from criticizing the network and its pundits. He singled out prime-time pundits Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham for remarks about immigrants. "There is a reason why anyone has to swallow hard and think twice about participating in this media ecosystem," Buittigieg said. "Even though some of those hosts are not there in good faith, I think a lot of people tune into this network who do it in good faith."

Trump had criticized Fox News, Wallace, and Buttigieg before the town hall, and Wallace asked Buttigieg how he plans to handle Trump's tweets and insults. "The tweets are ... I don't care," he said, to applause. Trump's twitter feed is very effective at grabbing the media's attention, he added. "It is the nature of grotesque things that you can't look away."

Responding to a question about restrictive new abortion laws, Buttigieg said he believes "the right of a woman to make her own decisions about her own reproductive health and her own body is a national right, I believe it is an American freedom." He said abortions in the third trimester should remain legal, too. "If it's that late in your pregnancy, then it's almost — by definition — you've been expecting to carry it to term," he said. "We're talking about women who have perhaps chosen a name, women who have purchased a crib, and families that then get the most devastating medical news of their lifetime," which "forces them to make an impossible, unthinkable choice. ... That decision is not going to be made any better medically or morally because the government is dictating how that decision should be made."

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The crowd sent Buttigieg off with rousing applause. "Wow, a standing ovation," Wallace said, apparently surprised.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.