Pete Buttigieg Blasts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham During Fox News Town Hall

Pete Buttigieg blasted Fox News’ two most well-known hosts during a nationally televised town hall on the network.

After receiving criticism from many in the Democratic party for agreeing to take part in the hour-long event, the South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 presidential contender, 37, spoke with moderator and Fox News personality Chris Wallace in Claremont, New Hampshire, on Sunday evening.

“A lot of people in my party were critical of me doing this, and I get where that’s coming from, especially when you see what goes on with some of the opinion hosts on this network,” Buttigieg said.

“I mean when you’ve got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make America dirty. When you’ve got Laura Ingraham comparing detention centers with children in cages to summer camps,” he added. “There is a reason why anybody has to swallow hard and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem.”

Mayor Pete was making a reference to Carlson’s on-camera remarks in December 2018 when he suggested immigrants make “our own country poor and dirtier and more divided.”

Meanwhile, six months before in June 2018, Ingraham likened immigrant child detention centers to “essentially summer camps.”

Sarah Rice/Getty
Sarah Rice/Getty

However, Buttigieg defended his decision to participate in the network’s town hall.

“I also believe that even though some of those hosts are not always there in good faith, I think a lot of people tune into this network who do it in good faith,” he said. “And there are a lot of Americans who my party can’t blame if they are ignoring our message, because they will never hear it if we don’t go on and talk about it.”

Buttigieg added, “We have to find people where they are, not change our values, but update our vocabulary so that we’re truly connecting with Americans coast to coast.”

After his closing remarks, during which he said, “I believe running for office is an act of hope,” the politician’s appearance was concluded with roaring applause and even a standing ovation that left Wallace saying, “Wow.”

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Sarah Rice/Getty
Sarah Rice/Getty

Buttigieg’s Fox News town hall comes a week after his fellow 2020 contender, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., turned down an invite from the network.

Warren said she gave the event a “hard pass,” further criticizing Fox News as a “hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists.”