Politics

Report: Buttigieg Claiming Black Support That Doesn’t Exist

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David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has gone to great lengths to promote his Douglass Plan for black Americans — reportedly including enlisting bogus endorsements from prominent black people from South Carolina.

Pete Buttigieg, South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential hopeful, speaks at a campaign event at Saint Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. Sept. 24, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

The campaign also used a picture from Kenya to promote his platform that also includes legalization of marijuana and the abolition of the death penalty.

The Buttigieg campaign heralded the news in a news release that was picked up by the HBCU Times— a journal devoted to black colleges and universities. (RELATED: Buttigieg Speaks Out On LGBTQ Teaching In Christianity: ‘It Makes God Smaller’)

The article uncritically lauds the Douglas Plan, Buttigieg’s proposed affirmative action plan for blacks, as a policy initiative on the scale of the Marshall Plan that will ignite black progress in America. Buttigieg has virtually no support from black voters — in South Carolina or anywhere. The mayor’s own focus groups are telling him that many male Southern blacks are uncomfortable with Buttigieg’s open homosexuality.

Research conducted by The Intercept discovered that two of the black politicians allegedly in Buttigieg’s corner aren’t supporters and 40% of the 400 people supposedly backing his Douglass Plan are white. The list itself is composed of people who Buttigieg hopes will endorse his plan, and people had to indicate any opinion to the contrary by asking for their names to be removed.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 04: Democratic presidential hopeful South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks to the media at the National Action Network's annual convention on April 4, 2019 in New York City. A dozen 2020 Democratic presidential candidates will speak at the organization's convention this week. Founded by Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991, the National Action Network is one of the most influential African American organizations dedicated to civil rights in America. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Democratic State Rep. Ivory Thigpen told the Intercept: “Even though I had had conversations with the [Buttigieg] campaign, it was clear to me, or at least I thought I made it clear to them, that I was a strong Bernie Sanders supporter—actually co-chair of the state, and I was not seeking to endorse their candidate or the plan,”

Lawyer and author Johnnie Cordero isn’t supporting the plan either: “I never endorsed that plan. I don’t know how my name got on there. No, that’s not true: I know how my name got on there,” Cordero told The Intercept, explaining that he had discussed the Douglass Plan with the Buttigieg campaign but not approved it. (RELATED: Buttigieg Draws On Bible, Suggests Babies Can Be Aborted Up Until Their First Breath)

The campaign didn’t even use a front cover photo of black Americans, opting instead for a free picture from Kenya.