Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg answered questions ranging from transgender issues to foreign policy on Kayleigh McEnany’s Fox News show Saturday in America.
“This president took office promising that he was going to make life more affordable on day one,” Buttigieg said Saturday morning. “A big issue in the midterms will be, why did so many congressional Republicans vote to cut Medicaid while they were giving tax cuts to some of the wealthiest Americans?”
McEnany defended President Donald Trump’s record, noting that inflation was 11% under former President Joe Biden’s administration and is now down to 2.7%. She then challenged Buttigieg over the issue of transgender athletes, which the Fox News host said moved the 2024 electorate 2.7 points against former Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“I would be surprised if this is a top three or even a top 10 voter issue in the midterms this year,” Buttigieg responded, pivoting to Republicans’ losses in the 2025 elections and again emphasizing the importance of affordability.
The former presidential candidate also highlighted outrage over federal immigration enforcement operations.
“You have American citizens being arrested, being gunned down,” Buttigieg told McEnany.
“I think those are the kinds of things that, as painful as they are, can actually bring together a lot of Americans to say, ‘Hey, we need a different direction,’” Buttigieg continued. “We need some balance in our government so that you get a Congress that isn’t just a rubber stamp that can exercise some oversight over an administration that’s gotten out of control.”
McEnany pushed back on Buttigieg’s attack on the Trump administration’s immigration policies, stating that 70% of detainees for immigration offenses had a criminal record.
Then the conversation shifted to foreign policy, as the former White House press secretary asked what Buttigieg’s opinion was on the raid to capture former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
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“Any time we’re talking about using force, and I say this as somebody who was sent into a war on the orders of an American president, the bar has to be higher,” Buttigieg replied. “It has to be in the core security interest of this country. And there has to be no alternative. And I just don’t see any evidence of that in the case of Venezuela.”
“We love having alternative viewpoints here, and we’ll be following you,” McEnany said at the end of the segment. “And I know you’ve already answered that you won’t share with us if you’re running in 2028, which is why I did not ask.” Buttigieg let a slight grin cross his face in response.
