Why Aren't Black Voters Down With The Buttigieg?

The Pinocchio Theory

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was a prominent member of Joe Biden’s Cabinet and served as the public face for the administration’s most successful legislative achievement, 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Yet, he’s still not a serious contender for president in 2028, specifically because his support among a key Democratic electorate remains abysmal.

An Emerson College poll from late June had Buttigieg leading other possible Democratic primary candidates, including former Vice President Kamala Harris. However, that same poll showed Buttigieg with zero support among Black Democratic primary voters. He also managed a big goose egg among Black voters in an Echelon poll. Donald Trump won 13 percent Black support in the 2024 election — the best performance for a Republican in decades. I somehow don’t think that if Buttigieg did win the nomination, he’d stop the shift of working-class Black voters to the GOP.

One veteran Democratic strategist puts it bluntly: “He has one big, glaring soft spot … which is his relationship with the Black community. He didn’t have a lot of African American fans from his time as mayor, he didn’t have a lot of Black support when he ran for president, and I haven’t seen evidence that he’s done much to fix that over the last few years.”

Pete Buttigieg Offends Professional Loser Class With His Earnest Attempt To Win Elections

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Buttigieg didn’t do well with Black voters in 2020, and certain reductive explanations for the underperformance still endure: Buttigieg is gay and Black voters are homophobic or Black voters are pragmatic and won’t support a candidate they think will lose because he’s gay. These arguments are both trite and based on shallow stereotypes.

Generally speaking, Black Democratic primary voters tend to prioritize candidates with actual experience and an established relationship with both the party and the Black community in particular. Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, struggled with the latter, while Buttigieg was a non-starter in both categories.

It would seem, though, that Buttigieg had addressed these concerns: In 2020, his highest elected office was mayor of South Bend, Indiana, which has a population of 103,453. Now, he’s led a Cabinet department. He’s proven himself a capable Democratic Party surrogate. Yet, his Black outreach has been minimal.

For instance, Buttigieg wasted a lot of time over the past four years on Fox News. He jokingly introduced himself at the Democratic National Convention as “I’m Pete Buttigieg and you might recognize me from Fox News.” (Watch below.)

We can debate the benefits of Democrats legitimatizing a right-wing propaganda outlet that openly lied about the 2020 election. However, it’s clear that Fox News is not a great platform for anyone who wants to run for president as a Democrat.

Imagine JD Vance or Nancy Mace joking at the Republican National Convention, “You might know me from BET or Univision.” Sure, Nikki Haley went on The Breakfast Club during her presidential run, but she spent more time speaking to the actual Republican primary electorate on Fox News and other right-wing media sources. Yes, Buttigieg has also appeared on The Breakfast Club, but by his own admission, that’s not where someone would recognize him. (Watch below.)

Few Black voters watch Fox News. Our aunties don’t voluntarily tune into state media for regular brainwashing sessions. In my home state of South Carolina, Fox News is usually playing on TV at most public places — restaurants, bars, and even doctors’ office — and my relatives have trained themselves to just treat it as literal white noise. If you aren’t paying attention, for the sake of your sanity, you probably won’t process Buttigieg as a bold defender of Democratic policies. He’s just another dude in a suit.

CNN broke the hardly breaking news in 2018 that Fox’s audience is less diverse than a Klan rally: 94 percent white, three percent Hispanic, two percent Asian, and one percent Black. Sadly, Buttigieg’s frequent appearances on Fox haven’t even won over the one percent of Black viewers. That’s because people like Harris Faulkner or Lawrence Jones are probably even less likely to embrace Buttigieg.

Don’t Even Think About Blaming Black Voters For A Donald Trump Apocalypse

The bigger issue politically for Buttigieg isn’t his sexuality but the fact that he’s extremely, blindingly white. Buttigieg told Billboard News in 2022 that he likes to listen to Creedence Clearwater Revival on road trips, specifically 1970’s Cosmo’s Factory. Buttigieg revealed that he and his husband Chasten went to a Brandi Carlile concert, and plans to “educate” his kids about The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. That’s not just white. It’s Boomer white. Although, Bill Clinton is a Boomer and was called the first “Black president.” (Back in 1992, we really thought this was the closest we’d get.) The Clintons had Black friends and interests that were culturally coded as “Black.” Bill loved jazz and like Jimmy Carter, he celebrated Black music. This is best summed up in the image of Clinton wearing sunglasses and playing the saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show.

When I lived in New York City, I was once at a party that Chelsea Clinton co-hosted. (Obviously, this invitation came through my then-girlfriend, now wife, as my own social calendar at the time was mostly Smallville and Ugly Betty.) I didn’t introduce myself because I felt awkward about having not voted for her mother in the 2008 primary. This was stupid of me because I doubt the topic would’ve come up. We could’ve discussed the speciality cocktail or the music, which was thumping. Anyway, at one point, I noticed Chelsea and her friend, who was Black, dancing and singing along to a hip-hop joint most Millennials her age probably know by heart. It felt completely normal. I can’t picture a twentysomething Buttigieg in this scenario, and he’s a few years younger than Chelsea, whose road trip mix definitely includes some Ja Rule and Ludacris.

During a Fox News town hall in 2020, Buttigieg was asked about NBA legend Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter accident, and he praised Bryant for inspiring people “on the field and off the field.” Basketball is played on a court, not a field. Even I knew that after I looked it up. Buttigieg is from Indiana, where basketball “isn’t simply a game — it’s a tradition, passion, and part of our culture.”

Black people’s affection for Barack Obama wasn’t just skin deep. He resonated with us culturally. Barack and Michelle saw Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing on their first date. He didn’t just know the basics of basketball — like “courts” vs. “field.” He shot hoops on the campaign trail and could trash-talk with the best of them when sinking a three pointer. (Watch below.)

If Black folks aren’t connecting with Buttigieg, I don’t think it’s out of hostility. Politics is personal, and Buttigieg probably just comes across as a nice enough guy who’d advise you which itemized deductions are legal but not someone you’d swap off-color jokes with at the barbershop. Buttigieg has mostly spent the past four years cementing his tax attorney credentials instead of his barbershop cred. Black voters notice who you actually hang with between elections. It’s not enough anymore to leave the country club during primary season for some opportune visits at a Black church in South Carolina. As Bootsy Collins warned, you can’t fake the funk. Your nose will grow.