Pete Buttigieg isn’t a middle child, but he kind of seems like one. The South Bend, Ind., mayor and presidential hopeful is soft-spoken, underrated, and conciliatory. If there’s anyone who knows how to bridge the gap between two sides, it may be him.
He’s a long shot for the Democratic presidential nomination, but his time in the public eye has already been good for America.
One example of this comes from an unlikely source: a conversation about chicken. During a radio interview on Tuesday, Buttigieg said he could make peace with Chick-fil-A.
“I do not approve of their politics, but I kind of approve of their chicken. Maybe, if nothing else, I can build that bridge,” Buttigieg said. “Maybe I’ll become in a position to broker that peace deal.”
He may not agree with the company’s opposition to gay marriage, but he emphasized the importance of reaching people with different backgrounds and identities.
“What can we talk about that brings us together? Because I have no clue what it’s like to walk in the shoes of so many other people. But I can talk about some of the pieces of what I carry with me and see if it rhymes with their life experience,” he said. “Good art has that. Good music has that. Good literature has that. … And good politics ought to have that quality too.”
Chick-fil-A has generated controversy for donating money to organizations that oppose gay marriage. Cities across the U.S. have tried to keep the fast food chain out. In the latest pushback against the company, San Antonio’s City Council voted last week to bar the restaurant from its airport.
But Buttigieg, who would be the country’s first openly gay president if he were elected, thinks that Chick-fil-A and its opponents can at least have a conversation.
Buttigieg got his B.A. from Harvard in history and literature, which explains his understanding that good art, literature, and politics involve discovering commonalities rather than shaming opponents.
“We’ve got to get back to that,” he said. So far, Buttigieg’s campaign is on the right track.
