Democrats “defined everything by identity,” Pete Buttigieg says in critique of his party

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Speaking at a Texas Tribune Festival on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticized the Democratic Party for failing to reach everyday Americans, arguing that it “got sucked in” to a conversation about identity. 

“There were expressions in the Democratic Party that suggested all that matters to where you fit now is based on your identity, and therefore, the only things we can do for you have to do with your identity,” Buttigieg said. “And it turns out that if you do it that way, you can’t stitch together a story that makes sense across the board, and you actually lose many people in the very identity groups you think you’re talking to.”

In a conversation with The Atlantic chief editor Jeffrey Goldberg,  Buttigieg said his party should focus on asking questions about issues gripping the country, such as the ability to afford health care and housing. 

“We don’t need to water down our commitment to racial and economic justice as a party,” he said. “We need to remember that all this ties into what it’s like to be an American…We’re not just another country out there, we’re a country that developed based on this commitment to democratic equality.” 

Buttigieg, a former naval officer and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, staked his claim for the presidency in 2020. Former President Joe Biden, who beat him in that race, appointed him as the top transportation official during his administration. In the 2024 presidential election, he was among a group of contenders for the vice presidency under Kamala Harris, who ultimately picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

Buttigieg has remained a key national figure and surrogate for the Democratic Party, often dueling with members of the Republican Party on network television and on social media. 

Buttigieg said young people — and young men in particular — “drifted into (Trump’s) arms” after witnessing policy failures throughout their lives, including the 2008 financial crisis and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And where Democrats have failed, Trump has won, he said. The Democratic Party should be redesigned to focus on addressing the issues gripping everyday American life, he said. 

“All of these things that are happening now, obviously, I will argue why Trump policies and Republican policies tend to make them worse,” he said. “But they also tend to create an environment where a lot of people who don’t even like him will say, ‘You know what? I’ll try anything, including burning the house down to have some shot of being better off,’ and those are the conditions that my party needs to understand have led us to be here.”