INDIANAPOLIS — Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old South Bend mayor and presidential hopeful, discussed his age and how his ideas would fit into the history books in his speech Thursday night at the Young Democrats of America convention.
In his first campaign event in Indiana since officially declaring his candidacy for president, he called for action on gun violence, climate change and immigration reform.
Buttigieg was the keynote speaker for the Young Democrats of America convention, held in Indianapolis this year for the first time ever. The two-term mayor of South Bend criticized moves Republican leaders have done in the past, like the war in Iraq.
“They say young people are idealistic,” Buttigieg said. “But we’re not Democrats because of our idealism, we’re Democrats because of our reality.”
And of course, at the Young Democrats of America convention, Buttigieg discussed his youth as an advantage.
“I want to attend the Young Democrats convention in 2055,” he said. “That year, God willing, I’ll be the current age of the current president. I will be retired. And I will be there to remind young people of the power they have if they rise up together. And I will prove my point by telling them what we did in 2020.”
Pete Seat, the chair of the Indiana Republican Party, criticized Buttigieg’s appearance in Indianapolis.
"We hope Buttigieg can squeeze in a trip to South Bend while he's here, where he might find time out of his busy schedule of big-dollar fundraisers with liberal celebrities to address his city's vast issue of residents not even feeling safe in their own neighborhoods,” Seat said. “The question stands that if Pete Buttigieg can't even handle being mayor of South Bend, what makes him think he could handle being president?"
