Joy Reid Plays Bigot Card, Asks Buttigieg If 'Heartland' Quote Is a 'Dog Whistle' for Whites
MSNBC is supposed to be a safe space for Democrats, especially during an election year. But in an era when liberal media elites are racing to out-liberal one another, even Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg isn’t safe from the wokeness.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, appeared on “AM Joy” Sunday to discuss his campaign with host Joy Reid ahead of Monday’s Iowa caucus debacle.
Just minutes into the interview, Buttigieg was put on the defensive about a tweet he posted last week praising the politics of middle Americans over those of Washington elites.
“So I want to read you a tweet from you,” Reid said. “‘In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we’ve come to know and expect.’”
In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we’ve come to know and expect.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 29, 2020
Reid continued: “I got a lot of texts on that tweet. Not positive. From people saying, ‘Heartland?’ That sounds to a lot of people like a dog whistle to white voters.”
She pressed on, asking, “When you say ‘Heartland,’ who do you mean?”
Buttigieg grimaced at the question before launching into a short speech about income equality and family values.
The 38-year-old ultimately defended the American Heartland as a place of diversity.
Apparently Buttigieg, who supports government confiscation of so-called assault weapons, elimination of the Electoral College and consideration of reparations for slavery, is not progressive enough for Reid.
It should be noted that last month, the openly gay candidate asked “staff members of color” to report “microaggressions” they experienced at the hands of their white colleagues while working for his campaign, according to The New York Times.
When progressive candidates such as Pete Buttigieg begin facing questions about these supposed “dog whistles” that only Democrats seem to hear, you have to wonder if the left’s obsession with identity politics has become less about inclusion and more about division — even if that division is within their own party.
If the Democratic Party is indeed a vehicle of progress guiding the country toward a post-racial utopia, why would Reid be so concerned with one of the party’s candidates sending coded messages to its own voters during its own primary?
Is Reid inferring that Democratic voters have a problem with racism?
Last July, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez touted his party’s candidates as “the most diverse field in our nation’s history.” That diversity has since been whittled down, with six white candidates, Buttigieg among them, leading the way.
It is difficult to feel sympathy for Mayor Pete. After all, he has spent a year on the campaign trail attempting to advance the same divisive racial politics that now have him under the microscope.
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