Presidential Hopeful Pete Buttigieg Talks White Privilege

On yesterday's episode of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, openly gay Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg stopped by and the two chatted about his "feud" with Mike Pence, the religious left, climate change, black voter outreach, and reckoning with his white privilege. 

“Some people have said the reason you get so much media coverage is, not unlike Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, you’re benefiting from white male privilege, where media wants to cover you, and candidates with different skin colors wouldn’t get the same coverage,” pointed out Noah. “Do you think you’re benefiting from that or do you think there’s something else?”

“I’d like to think it’s my qualities and my message,” Buttigieg responded, “but I’ve been reflecting on this because one of the things about privilege is that you don’t think about it very much. It’s being in an outgroup where you are constantly reminded of it. It’s not when you’re in a majority or a privileged group."

He continued: 

“I try to check myself and try to understand the factors that help explain why things are going well. Then again, there is a lot of ups and downs. We’re having a good moment. But I am under no illusion it’s going to stay like this indefinitely. We’re going to have a lot of challenges.

I do think that there’s a media environment that kind of pushes people into lanes, whether they comfortably fit there or not, and I do think it’s simply harder for candidates of color or for female candidates; I’m very mindful of that.

The only thing I know how to do about that is to be true to a message and a vision that’s meaningful and to be as respectful as I can to the others. I don’t view myself as having opponents, but competitors, and I think each of us needs to compete based on what we have to offer."

Yesterday, Buttigieg sat down with the Reverand Al Sharpton where he said his Presidential campaign represents "the other... I’m running for the other.”

Watch the clip below: