Rev. Al Sharpton described how impressed he was with 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg during a Friday morning episode of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
The reverend’s comments come after he met with the South Bend, Indiana, mayor Monday for the National Action Network (NAN) Convention in New York City and a lunch of Harlem fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens. The two appeared to hit it off.
Sharpton told the “Morning Joe” panel that he thinks Buttigieg is “very impressive”:
I think he’s very impressive. I think that he’s thought out what he represents and what he wants to say. I was most impressed that he’s comfortable in his skin. I think that for anyone to ignore him or Kamala Harris, who I think had an amazing day the other day methodically breaking down the attorney general in front of the world, I think anyone that counts them out in the name of others and front-runners are only playing with themselves.
“It is going to be a different race, cause it’s a different America. People that Trump and others have discounted are not going to be discounted and their vote is not as predictable as people think. I think we’re in for a season that we’ve not seen like this before,” he concluded. (RELATED: Pete Buttigieg Featured On Time Magazine Cover-Campaign Described As ‘Unlikely’ In Subtitle)
During their meeting Monday, the mayor started his conversation with Sharpton by discussing ways the white male could reach out to other voting groups in order to gain the Democratic nomination to run against President Donald Trump in 2020.
Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg (L) of South Bend, Indiana and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton … BEBETO MATTHEWS/AFP/Getty Images
“Mayor Pete” announced his candidacy in January and has made news criticizing Trump’s religion. He called Vice President Mike Pence the “cheerleader for the porn-star presidency” during a CNN town hall last month.
“I’m reluctant to comment on another person’s faith, but I would say it is hard to look at this president’s actions and believe that they’re the actions of somebody who believes in God,” Buttigieg told Kirsten Powers, according to an op-ed in USA Today.