Democratic South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg clashed with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar during the sixth Democratic presidential debate Thursday, touting his experience as winning as a “gay dude in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”
“Before the break, you seemed to imply that my relationship to the First Amendment was a talking point,” Buttigieg said to Klobuchar. “As if anyone up here as any more or less commitment to the Constitution than anybody else up here. Let me tell you about my relationship to the First Amendment.”
“It is part of the Constitution that I raised my right hand and swore to defend with my life. That is my experience, and it may not be the same as yours, but it counts, senator. It counts,” he added.
“I certainly respect your military experience. That’s not what this is about,” Klobuchar said. “This is about choosing a president.” (RELATED: Amy Klobuchar Suggests Buttigieg’s Rise Is Due To Sexism, Not Better Qualifications)
She continued, saying that she wants to show Democrats that she can “have a wider tent, a bigger coalition and, yes, longer coat tails, that matters.”
“Excuse me, I got to respond to that. I got to respond to that,” Buttigieg said. “Senator, I know that if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you. If you want to talk about the capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80% of the vote as a gay dude in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”
“Again, I would–if you had won in Indiana, that would be one thing. You tried and you lost by 20 points,” Klobuchar shot back.
Buttigieg also had tense words with Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at the debate, painting her as being one of the wealthy people she criticized him for fundraising with recently.