Pete Buttigieg said that he was not familiar with internet jokes calling him “Mayo Pete” and lightened the conversation with some of his opinions about the condiment.
“Do I want to know?” the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview when asked how he counters “Mayo Pete” memes.
Teenagers and younger voters have taken digs at Buttigieg by calling him “Mayo Pete,” a reference that accuses him of being bland and highlights the white candidate’s struggle to earn support from minority voters. Some videos on Twitter and Tik Tok parodying Buttigieg supporters performing a choreographed dance to High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco closed with “Mayo Pete.”
“I get the white part,” Buttigieg said.
.@PeteButtigieg is such an inspiring candidate pic.twitter.com/NseCihDQcR
— NO WAR IN IRAN (@YDSgAy) November 10, 2019
[Opinion: Pete Buttigieg and the black vote: two things Democrats aren’t allowed to say]
Buttigieg, 37, brushed off assertions that his policy proposals are not transformative enough.
“There will always be some folks who say, ‘It’s not real,'” he said. “‘Healthcare reform isn’t real unless you obliterate the entire private industry. College isn’t real unless even the child of a billionaire can go without paying a penny in tuition. The climate change thing doesn’t count unless it’s trillions more dollars than it is.’ And that’s just not how I measured the bigness of an idea.”
Later in the interview, Buttigieg discussed his decision to come out as gay and a New York Times editorial board member remarked that it makes him “less mayo.”
“Hopefully it’s at least a better flavor. I don’t know,” Buttigieg said. “I actually hate flavored mayo — they do this avocado stuff now and it — because I only use mayo when I’m making tuna salad. And I want it as straightforward as possible.”
When asked what he would be most likely to fail at as president, Buttigieg quipped that he was “tempted to go with a condiment reference, but I’m going to behave.”
Instead, he turned the conversation back to the disparity between conversations on social media and conversation he has on the ground with voters.
“I would not be surprised if it continues to be the case that doing what I view to be the right thing as president is not just politically costly in general but may cost me the hearts and minds of those who are disproportionately represented online,” Buttigieg said.
“I just might get canceled,” he added.
