Buttigieg Rejects Biden's 2020 Slogan as 2028 Polls Show Tight Race With AOC
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Buttigieg Rejects Biden's 2020 Slogan as 2028 Polls Show Tight Race With AOC
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Summary
Pete Buttigieg said Biden's 2020 "Build Back Better" message and any broader "return to normal" pitch would not work now, arguing Democrats must focus on "building what’s next."
In the Politico interview, the former transportation secretary said he is purging words like "back" and "re-" from his vocabulary and suggested that if Biden-era messaging could have succeeded, "it would have worked."
Buttigieg also put distance between himself and Biden personally, calling him a "good man" and "good boss" but saying he was not close enough to describe the former president as a mentor.
A University of New Hampshire poll published last month showed Buttigieg running neck-and-neck with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a potential 2028 Democratic contest, even as he has not formally launched a campaign.
The remarks fit a broader effort to frame himself as a change candidate rather than a restoration figure, while trying to avoid reducing the party's debate to a simple left-versus-center fight.