Pete Buttigieg's interview with The New York Times got a little bumpy.
The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor sat down with the Times as part of the outlet's series on Democratic presidential candidates. Buttigieg's interview largely went as one would expect — he defended his choice to work at McKinsey, argued he could rally support from black voters, and outlined his stance on issues ranging from climate change to abortion.
But things got a little tense when one Times editorial board member asserted Buttigieg had "been on the front lines of corporate price fixing" by way of his consulting for Loblaws grocery stores while at McKinsey. Loblaws later admitted it had been fixing prices on bread for years.
"Whoa, whoa whoa, that's, that's, I'm sorry, that's —" said Buttigieg in response to the claim. "The proposition that I've been on front lines of corporate price fixing is bullshit. Just to get that out of the way."
"You worked for a company that was fixing bread prices," said the Times board member, Binyamin Appelbaum. "No, I worked for a consulting company that had a client that may have been involved in fixing or was apparently in a scandal. I was not aware of the Canadian bread pricing scandal until last night," he responded.
The conversation hit another snag when a Times writer said Buttigieg used to support abolishing the Electoral College, but hasn't talked about it in a while.
"So, that's false, and I reject any reporting, some of which I've seen, I believe some of it coming from this building, that suggests that I backed away from it," said the former mayor. "I talk about it in virtually every stump speech that I give."
For his final curveball question, Buttigieg was asked what he's "most likely to fail at" as president. His answer? He "might get canceled" by haters on Twitter. Read the full interview at The New York Times.