Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg wants America to look before it leaps into a Sanders presidency.
Buttigieg remained stuck in third place in Nevada's Democratic caucuses as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was projected the winner on Saturday night. And while Buttigieg congratulated Sanders and acknowledged they have many goals in common, he still had some reservations about nominating Sanders and asked Democrats to "take a sober look at what's at stake" before doing so in his concession speech.
"This a great day for our campaign," Buttigieg said Saturday as he asked for campaign donations to keep his candidacy running through Super Tuesday. "I congratulate Sen. Sanders on his strong showing tonight," Buttigieg said, but pivoted to ask that "before we rush to nominate Sen. Sanders ... let us take a sober look at what is at stake." "Sen. Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans," Buttigieg said, and even accused Sanders of furthering a "tenor of combat, division, and polarization" that would never change "the toxic tone of our politics."
Buttigieg had about a third of Sanders' vote count when the projection was made — though that happened with just 4 percent of precincts reporting. Former Vice President Joe Biden was barely ahead of Buttigieg at that point, but his speech took on a much more victorious tone as he moved on to focus on South Carolina.