Actor and activist Michael J. Fox poked fun at Friday’s lively Democratic presidential debate while introducing Pete Buttigieg.
“I was watching the debate last night, and it occurred to me — I love all the Democratic nominees,” Fox, 58, said Saturday before poking fun at Buttigieg’s primary rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. “But they’re all yelling at me. And I’m sitting there going, ‘Why are you yelling at me, Bernie, what did I do to you?’”
The line earned laughs from the crowd of nearly 1,000 people who came to see the 38-year-old former South Bend, Indiana, mayor in Keene, New Hampshire.
“They’re all screaming, but Pete isn’t screaming, he’s just talking to me. And he’s the one guy who’s just quiet and making his point,” Fox continued. “I agree with him on almost all issues — all issues. I can’t think of one I don’t.”
Audience member: “Marty McFly!”
Michael J. Fox: “Is that Doc?”
Michael J. Fox (@realmikefox) campaigns for @PeteButtigieg in Keene, New Hampshire. pic.twitter.com/hV9EFydnAw
— The Hill (@thehill) February 8, 2020
The Back to the Future and Family Ties star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 29, gave a $2,800 maximum donation to Buttigieg’s campaign last year, along with many other celebrities, and later endorsed Buttigieg.
Fox said that he first heard of Buttigieg while watching MSNBC’s Morning Joe and listed the mayor’s accomplishments, such as being a “very stable Rhodes scholar.”
He also compared Buttigieg to President Barack Obama.
“I met him, this was early on, and he was just starting to make a splash,” Fox said of Obama. “And I talked to him, and I was so impressed with him, and I called my wife afterward, and said, ‘I just met the next president of the United States.’ And I felt the same way when I saw Pete.”
