Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg admits white male privilege may have helped his meteoric rise

Stephen Proctor
Updated

On The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, otherwise known as “Mayor Pete,” acknowledged that he and his campaign have benefitted from white privilege. Buttigieg’s star has risen faster than even he expected, as he told Al Sharpton over lunch on Monday, and Noah asked his thoughts on the claim that he gets such heavy media coverage because he’s a white male.

“Well, I’d like to believe it’s my qualities and my message, but I have been reflecting on this because one of the things about privilege, especially things like white privilege or male privilege, is that you don't think about it much,” Buttigieg said. “It’s being in an out group where you are constantly reminded of it. It’s not when you’re in a majority or privileged group. So I try to check myself and make sure I understand the factors that help explain why things are going well.”

Buttigieg isn’t the only candidate to speak about white male privilege. Beto O’Rourke admitted in March that he’s been afforded certain privileges because he’s a white man, and Joe Biden recently lamented “white man’s culture” while speaking about violence against women.

Buttigieg, Bide, and O’Rourke will be facing off against the most diverse field in history in the 2020 Democratic primaries, and the South Bend mayor admitted that some of his competitors will have a tougher road ahead.

“I do think that there's a media environment that kind of pushes people into lanes whether they comfortably fit there or not,” Buttigieg said, “and I do think it's simply harder for candidates of color or female candidates, and I'm very mindful of that.”

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central.

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