Buttigieg Hits Back At Biden Ad Mocking Mayoral Experience: ‘Speaks More’ To His Standing

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 19: Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (L) speaks with former Vice President Joe Biden during the Democratic presidential primary debate at L... LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 19: Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg (L) speaks with former Vice President Joe Biden during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Seven candidates out of the crowded field qualified for the 6th and last Democratic presidential primary debate of 2019 hosted by PBS NewsHour and Politico. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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It didn’t take long for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg to hit back at Joe Biden shortly after the former vice president released his new campaign ad ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

Biden’s newest campaign ad, which mocks Buttigieg’s experience as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, comes on the heels of Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leading the Iowa caucuses, which has yet to declare an official winner. Biden came in fourth place in the caucuses, falling behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

In the ad titled “Pete’s Record,” Biden’s campaign contrasts his experience as vice president during the Obama administration with Buttigieg’s time as the mayor of South Bend. The background music abruptly changes from a cinematic orchestral melody when listing Biden’s accomplishments to a more comical tone when describing and criticizing Buttigieg’s time as a small city mayor.

According to the Associated Press Saturday, Biden repeated points made against Buttigieg in the campaign ad during an event in New Hampshire.

“I do not believe we’re a party at risk if I’m the nominee,” Biden told voters in Manchester, according to the AP. “I do believe we’re a party at risk if we nominate someone who has never held a higher office than the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.”

In a statement shared with TPM, Buttigieg’s campaign spokesperson Chris Meagher called out Biden for putting down his mayoral experience.

“At this moment, the American people are crying out for something completely different from this classic Washington style of politics,” Meagher said in the statement. “While Washington politics trivializes what goes on in communities like South Bend, South Bend residents who now have better jobs, rising income, and new life in their city don’t think their lives are a Washington politician’s punchline.”

Meagher added that Buttigieg’s “on the ground experience as mayor, turning around a Midwestern industrial city, is exactly why he is running for president.”

“The Vice President’s decision to run this ad speaks more to where he currently stands in this race than it does about Pete’s perspective as a mayor and veteran,” Meagher said in the statement.

Watch Biden’s campaign ad below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Impressive and funny. Someone on the Biden team has finally decided to hit back. Well done.

    Biden’s ad slams Buttigieg in a stinging and funny way. All the comments online are positive, yet the headline here is what? Think we can all figure out which candidate TPM is pushing?

  2. Snarky and reeks of desperation.

    Who is advising Biden?

  3. Avatar for jcs jcs says:

    Glad to see experience or lack of as an issue. Legitimate. More needs to be made of the risks of throwing everything out for something new. 20th century history gives us the lesson.

  4. I guess Joe’s ad struck a nerve, lol. Someone with a great sense of humor has stepped up for Biden. Time someone pointed out how arrogant it is for a 40-year old with no meaningful experience to be so presumptuous as to make running for president of the United States of America his first pick for national office. Arrogance and disdain for the intelligence of others is what the Buttigieg campaign reeks of. Joe’s just pointing it out.

  5. Avatar for aiddon aiddon says:

    We have now entered the “pissbaby” phase of their rivalry.

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