The fourth Democratic debate will be make-or-break for many of the 12 candidates on stage Tuesday night, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg made sure to leave an impression. Curiously, though, he specifically drew praise from conservatives by pulling to the right of his more progressive opponents.
"Buttigieg, who opened with a civility pitch but got lost in the progressive shuffle, clearly sees an opening in the center again," tweeted American Conservative editor and The Week contributor Jim Antle. Liz Mair, a libertarian and Republican communications strategist, praised Buttigieg's answer to an impeachment question that came early in the debate, when the mayor observed that after an inquiry, "think about where we'll be — vulnerable, even more torn apart by politics than we are right now."
Jennifer Rubin, a conservative writer for The Washington Post, marveled at Buttigieg's performance, tweeting that the mayor was "hitting this out of the park, out of the town." Matt Lewis, a conservative columnist at The Daily Beast, added: "I don't pretend to know how this exchange plays on the left, but ... Pete Buttigieg is winning this debate."
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.
The daughter of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, Meghan McCain, also cheered Buttigieg when he pushed back on former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke's gun buyback proposal:
Many Democrats were, needless to say, less thrilled by Mayor Pete. "Buttigieg is getting closer to clinching the Republican nomination," quipped Farron Cousins, a co-host of the progressive Ring of Fire talk show.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
