Former Secretary of Transportation and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg visited Bloomington Thursday to meet with local party organizers and deliver a keynote lecture at Indiana University.
Following a protest at the Statehouse over state Republicans’ congressional redistricting plan, the former Indiana politician appeared at the opening of the Monroe County Democrats’ new community space at its Second Street headquarters.
Read more: Buttigieg urges Hoosiers to oppose GOP redistricting at Statehouse rally
Buttigieg delivered a brief speech to rally organizers and condemned the redistricting effort.
“Whatever they wind up deciding to do at the Statehouse, we're going to make sure that we establish that cheaters never win in the long run, and that we have better answers for people's everyday lives,” he said.
Afterwards, Buttigieg shook hands and took selfies with attendees.
Monroe County Democratic Party chair Chrissie Geels said that when she saw his upcoming speaking engagement at IU, she reached out.
“We were already planning our soft open for this week anyway,” she said. “Then we saw that he was going to be in town, and I just had to get ahold of him.”
Buttigieg declined to answer questions from WFIU/WTIU News.
“We're just trying to focus on the volunteers right now,” he said.
Several hours later he spoke to a full house at the IU auditorium.
The student-moderated talk was hosted by the Union Board and LGBTQ+ Culture Center as part of its “Speaking of Excellence” series, which in the past has mainly invited LGBTQ actors such as Hunter Schafer and George Takei.
Buttigieg told the audience that he believed growing up gay in Indiana informed his reach-across-the-aisle approach to politics, and that as a child in South Bend, “I’ve never automatically felt that I was in harmony with my surroundings.”
He talked about his time as mayor of South Bend and unsuccessful run for Indiana treasurer as well as his service in Afghanistan.
Buttigieg also reiterated his condemnation of the “despicable” killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk and other recent acts of political violence, describing them as attacks on the public’s right to participate in politics.
“None of us should have any trouble condemning it, regardless of what we thought of his ideas,” he said. “Meanwhile, we see a White House that has decided to use this as the basis for a crackdown on political speech that they disagree with, on individuals and groups who have nothing to do with this array of violence, but who are a problem for them politically.”
Afterward, Buttigieg answered several pre-submitted questions from IU students, saying that if he weren’t a politician, he’d want to be a novelist.