Several prominent black leaders in South Carolina are accusing South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of misleading voters about black support for his campaign and its “Douglass Plan for Black America.”
In October, Buttigieg’s campaign began pushing a list of 400 South Carolinians who allegedly endorsed the candidate’s plan. The list included Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Devine, state Rep. Ivory Thigpen, and the state’s Democratic Black Caucus Chairman Johnnie Cordero. All three were alarmed when they saw how the list was rolled out.
“There is one presidential candidate who has proven to have intentional policies designed to make a difference in the Black experience, and that’s Pete Buttigieg,” an open letter released with the Douglass Plan said. “We are over 400 South Carolinians, including business owners, pastors, community leaders, and students. Together, we endorse his Douglass Plan for Black America, the most comprehensive roadmap for tackling systemic racism offered by a 2020 presidential candidate.”
The Buttigieg campaign using a stock photo of a Kenyan woman for its Douglass Plan for Black America is now news in Kenya.
The woman in the photo reached out to me very confused. One story here: https://t.co/H217w3QXdw
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 17, 2019
Devine said she immediately received calls asking why she had endorsed Buttigieg for president even though she has not officially endorsed any candidate, according to the Intercept. She said that the open letter may have been an attempt to mislead black voters in South Carolina to overestimating Buttigieg’s support.
“Clearly, from the number of calls I received about my endorsement, I think the way they put it out there wasn’t clear, that it was an endorsement of the plan, and that may have been intentionally vague. I’m political; I know how that works,” she said. “I do think they probably put it out there thinking people wouldn’t read the fine print or wouldn’t look at the details or even contact the people and say, ‘Hey, you’re endorsing Mayor Pete?'”
Devine later reiterated on Twitter that, while she thought the way the plan was rolled out was misleading, she does support Buttigieg’s Douglass Plan.
“Although I have not endorsed a candidate for President yet, I do support the Douglas Plan by Presidential Candidate @PeteButtigieg. This is a comprehensive plan to address economic inequities,” Devine said.
Although I have not endorsed a candidate for President yet, I do support the Douglas Plan by Presidential Candidate @PeteButtigieg. This is a comprehensive plan to address economic inequities. Read about the plan and share your thoughts: https://t.co/KyeLA9u38h
— Tameika Isaac Devine (@TIDEVINE) November 16, 2019
Thigpen had more issues with the letter and the campaign’s rollout of the plan, saying he never intended to endorse Buttigieg’s plan. Thigpen has also endorsed independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“How it was rolled out was not an accurate representation of where I stand,” Thigpen said. “It was alarming to me, because even though I had had conversations with the campaign, it was clear to me, or at least I thought I made it clear to them, that I was a strong Bernie Sanders supporter — actually co-chair of the state, and I was not seeking to endorse their candidate or the plan.”
“But what I had talked about was potentially giving them a quote of support in continuing the conversation, because I do think it’s a very important conversation,” Thigpen said.
Cordero’s name has been removed from the list because he never intended to endorse or support the plan in any way. The Buttigieg campaign pushed him to support the plan, but he said he declined to do so because the campaign was evasive and did not answer questions he had about it.
“There’s nothing in there that said black folk had anything to do with the drafting of that plan,” Cordero said.
“Now I like Pete, please don’t get me wrong. I’ll help him in any way I can. I think he’s an honest man, I think he’s a decent man, I think he has integrity,” Cordero continued. “But you don’t do that. Those days are over and done with. We’re tired of people telling us what we need. You wanna find out what we need? Come and ask us.”
The Buttigieg campaign said that after it began asking South Carolinians to support the plan, it gave those who expressed interest in supporting the plan multiple chances to opt out before publishing the list of supporters.
UPDATE:
The Buttigieg campaign has denied allegations that the rollout of the Douglas Plan was misleading. The campaign also said that after it began asking South Carolinians to support the plan, it gave those who expressed interest in supporting the plan multiple chances to opt out before publishing the list of supporters.
“We never gave the impression publicly that these people were endorsing Pete, only that they supported the plan. After they indicated their support, we reached out to people multiple times giving them the opportunity to review the language of the op-ed and the option to opt-out. We did hear from people who weren’t comfortable being listed and we removed them,” the campaign told the Washington Examiner.
