'Pete is a Fraud': More Officials, Constituents Calling for Mayor Pete's Resignation
For the past few months, Democratic 2020 candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has received preferential treatment from the predominately liberal establishment media as the latest “flavor of the month” who could be the savior of the left, excessively laudatory coverage that vaulted “Mayor Pete” into the top tier of contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination to take on President Donald Trump.
That position appears to have become unsustainable for Buttigieg and the liberal media, however, following extensive criticism — largely from the left, though some from the right — of the dubious manner in which the mayor has handled a controversial police-involved shooting in his city, one that featured a white officer killing a black man.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that a number of current and former officials with ties to the city, as well as activists and constituents, are demanding that Buttigieg resign as mayor over what has been perceived as an inadequate response to the boiling over of long-simmering racial tensions in South Bendy, as well as tensions between law enforcement and the black community stemming from Buttigieg’s demotion of the city’s first black police chief, Darryl Boykins, in 2012.
Pat Cotrell, the former president of the city’s Board of Public Safety — who resigned in 2013 after Buttigieg ignored his advice on handling a similarly controversial racial issue — told The Free Beacon that the mayor should “definitely not” be running for president and said, quite bluntly, “Pete is a fraud.”
“If there wasn’t anyone else running for president, I still wouldn’t vote for Pete,” Cotrell said.
Derek Dieter, who served as president of the city’s Common Council, similarly said Buttigieg should have resigned when he first announced his candidacy for president, telling The Free Beacon, “Because of Pete’s selfishness, in my opinion, he is still the mayor.”
A number of activists and constituents are also demanding Buttigieg resign because they say he’s unable to address the racial concerns of the black community in South Bend.
Activist and pastor Mario Sims told the Free Beacon, “To start with trying to heal, the mayor just needs to resign,” though not before cleaning house at the police department before he goes.
Sims further accused Buttigieg of being “tone-deaf” on racial issues and said he should suspend his political career entirely until he has “spent some time evaluating this.”
“I understand political ambition, I understand that. But you’re playing games with the lives of the people here, and innocent police officers,” Sims said.
“Right now there’s no way he can stand on the stage and honestly talk about the issues pressing this country when he can’t even successfully address the dire issues of race, lack of diversity, and poverty, not to mention the homeless issue in this city,” he continued.
“If you can’t even address those issues in a city of 100,000, my God, how can you address those issues in 50 states?” Sims said.
It isn’t just leftist activists calling for Buttigieg to step aside over his mishandling of the recent controversy, but also the South Bend Fraternal Order of Police, which released a statement recently that called into question the mayor’s leadership skills and capabilities.
“Mayor Buttigieg’s focus on this incident is solely for his political gain and not the health of the city he serves,” the FOP said. “Mayor Buttigieg’s comments have already and will continue to have a detrimental effect on local law enforcement officers and law enforcement officers nationwide. Mayor Buttigieg’s comments and actions are driving a wedge between law enforcement officers and the community they took an oath to serve.”
Sims noted that Buttigieg has found himself in the unique and unenviable position of being attacked by both sides over the same issue, and told The Free Beacon, “He’s managed to anger the black community and the police department. Now how do you do that?”
To get a small taste of the level of outrage aimed at Buttigieg right now, check out this short segment from CNN and listen to what the black protesters had to say to the mayor as he, rather unsuccessfully, attempted to address their concerns shortly after the shooting had occurred.
Buttigieg received preferential treatment from the media for a while and enjoyed his status as a near-untouchable Democratic contender, but reality reached up to grab the mayor by the ankles and yank him back down from that pedestal.
As Sims so accurately noted, if Buttigieg can’t adequately handle the problems in South Bend, who in their right mind thinks he can come even remotely close to adequately addressing the much larger and far more varied problems facing this nation?
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