Name: Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Biden, Brexit and trust – BBC Newsnight
Uploaded: 2020-10-27T19:30:40.000Z
Duration: 6 min 51 s
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now he was the 38 year old gay presidential Democratic candidate trying to change the way American politics looked and sounded.

Adverbs of manner

But Pete Buddha judge never made it to the Final Two, instead, to men in their seventies are presently slugging it out in the US election race on the former mayor of South Bend, known to many in America as simply Mayor, Pete is firmly on Tim Biden.

The Oxford graduate also somehow found the time to write a book called Trust America's Best Chance about restoring that bond between people on the institutions that make our society.

I began by asking him if he was disappointed with the choice on offer to voters in three weeks time.

Good news is, I think we've all come together is one team.

I still believe a lot in generational leadership.

But one thing I really appreciate about Vice President Biden is he's made it clear that he envisions the administration he'll build as a transformational and even transitional administration.

That's hardly a ringing sound of endorsements.

Surely you want people to vote for Joe Biden?

And let me tell you why Joe Biden is the right person for this moment.

So if you told me in February when I was still campaigning for president that the stakes were going to go up, I wouldn't have believed that was possible.

And yet with the pandemic, uh, the national awakening around racial injustice on even further collapse in global respect for the United States it matters more than ever that we have somebody who can establish trust both here at home by calling the country to its highest values and globally in your book just to take a step back.

You talk about trust and rebuilding trust and how people have lost trust in the government and in institutions.

We see this discussion here in the UK about there is a concern that the left in America, the left that you're a part of, like the Labor Party has been criticized here in Britain doesn't actually speak the language not just a middle parts of the country, but of blue collar workers of those people who need to be understood who turned towards Donald Trump.

Well again, I think it's in his bones, but it's also in his strategy, and it's one of the reasons that you know, I myself spent a lot of time going on conservative media trying to reach everybody with our message because again, the American people are already with us on everything from procedural questions.

You know, most Americans think that the next president ought to pick our next Supreme Court justice.

The policy questions Most Americans disagree with this president's agenda of cutting taxes for the wealthy, cutting services for the rest of us and while he's at it, making it harder to get health insurance and coverage for preexisting conditions.

But how have you learned the lessons of the past?

If you've got a guy used to be vice president trying to be president again, it's just like a merry go round of the establishment in the Democrat Party.

You know, I see this word establishment thrown around constantly, often by the very people who themselves have been in office for a long time.

I think it's become more and more just a rhetorical device versus something that would actually explain the positions of the candidates.

What I care about is are we gonna have a president who's going to raise wages and make the wealthy pay their fair share, or somebody is going to continue on the path we're on.

You have supported publicly the expansion of the number of judges on the bench.

Joe Biden expressly doesn't answer that question.

How can people trust that Joe Biden will actually be radical on Make those changes?

Well, I think, strategically, he knows that today.

Republicans will do anything in their power to shift the conversation away from their assault on health care, and he's taking care not to allow that to happen.

I continue to think there's there's a lot of potential for bipartisan structural reform in this country on a number of fronts, from three Electoral College to our judiciary.

I'm sure that those conversations will be vigorous in the years ahead.

But don't you think people have a right to know that before they cast their vote whether they can trust, he will do that?

Millions of Americans have already cast their vote.

I know and I think that you know, we will continue to debate big structural issues and I hope we do.

President Obama famously said Britain would be back of the queue for a trade deal if we voted to leave the European Union what we did and we've now left.

Biden was his vice president at that time.

Should have Brexit Britain be rooting for Donald Trump?

I don't think anybody who cares about good relations with the United States would be a rooting for Donald Trump, knowing that he almost specializes in antagonizing our allies and complicating our most important relationships where, as you say, Donald Trump specializes antagonizing, uh, you know, allies around the world.

There seems to be a very good relationship between the two men.

And Donald Trump speaks glowingly about Brexit on also knowing what perhaps needs to be done to get a good deal.

Well, look, we're not gonna take positions in in domestic UK politics, but of course we have an interest.

The US and and the world has an interest in the Good Friday agreement and peace in Northern Ireland, continuing and being, uh kept robust.

And that's something that the US will be a good faith partner, I know under under a Biden administration, no matter what choices three UK makes.

But my point is there's gotta be that support there.

And there is now concern on this side of the pond that perhaps Joe Biden will not be a good a partner to a Brexit Britain.

Hence why, I asked, should Brexit Britain be thinking of Trump as being more favorable in our current scenario?

Once I would imagine, uh, the United States to be healthy, robust, growing and friendly.

And right now the United States is in chaos.

The United States can barely have, ah, coherent picture painted of our foreign policy right now because it's not always clear if there is a foreign policy.

Do Democrats think of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump as natural allies?

Is part of the same phenomenon Politically, I don't know.

I think we can look past the bluster and we can look past the hair do's and and see, uh, to, uh, sometimes online, but ultimately very different people leading very different countries who have ah shared relationship a very important relationship.

If he gets in, you're looking forward to being part of the Cabinet.

What's what's the role you've got your eye on.

Um, right now, the role I've got my eye on is helping Joe Biden win and making sure that there's a Biden Harris administration and, uh, in the future, I'd love a chance to return to public service, but right now this is about making sure we win.

 And then that Biden Harris administration can expect my energetic support, whether it's in government or on the outside. 