Meghan McCain put a damper on news of surging Iowa poll numbers for South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg during Monday’s “The View.”
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Joy Behar responded to the news by noting that Buttigieg appeared to be more of a “moderate Democrat.” (RELATED: Joy Behar Says Beto Shouldn’t Have Warned Americans He Was Going To Take Their Guns)
“He wasn’t, and now he is,” McCain clarified. “He was both campaigning extremely left sort of in the Beto lane, and saw the tea leaves on that, and now he’s moderate.”
“People like that,” Behar continued. “The other one — there’s Klobuchar who is like that, and so is Joe Biden. People are excited about Buttigieg. He’s fresh, he’s new. He’s gay … He’s married, and unless you are a homophobe, he’s in a traditional marriage. Totally monogamous.”
“I think it’s great, and he’s openly religious which is another positive in this country,” Behar continued. “So unless people are going to not vote for someone like him because he’s gay, I think he’s got a shot.”
McCain jumped in then, pointing out the fact that Buttigieg doing well in Iowa wouldn’t necessarily translate to wins in early primary states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina, especially since he was still not polling well among black Americans. (RELATED: ‘Excuse Me, I’m Not Finished’: Meghan McCain Draws Straight Line From Democrats’ New Witness To Tulsi Gabbard)
Sunny Hostin agreed that was problematic, adding, “I have said this so often about Mayor Pete. I like him. I like some of the things that he has to say, but he has had a problem historically in South Bend where he is the mayor with the African-American community. I went to law school in South Bend, have gone back there several times, spent a lot of time in that community. He is not embraced by the black community as much as he should be.”
McCain interjected, “1% is very bad. It’s much lower than Trump for whatever that’s worth.”
President Donald Trump recently kicked off an increased effort to appeal to the black community, betting on record low unemployment rates to help carry him to better numbers in 2020. In addition, Buttigieg is not the only 2020 Democratic frontrunner to struggle with African American support: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has also polled lower in that area than some of her competitors.