Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that he has “every confidence” he could win over religious African American voters in the general election.
“We are working very hard to engage people across the party, but especially black voters, ” the South Bend, Ind., mayor told Chuck Todd on “Meet The Press,” arguing that his candidacy represented a “moment” that could be used to bridge both black and gay voters. “Anybody who has been on the short end of an equation of exclusion has a way to sympathize with people who’ve had different experiences with exclusion in this country.”
Regarding the black members of Congress who are concerned about his electability, Buttigieg noted that he came out during an election year in a socially conservative state while Vice President Mike Pence was still governor and quite popular. “I won with 80% of the vote. What that tells you, I think, is that people, if you give them a chance, will evaluate you on what you aim to do, what the results are, what the policies are. I have every confidence especially Democratic voters will not discriminate.”
