Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg addresses supporters at a campaign event, Thursday, May 9, 2019, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Indiana mayor and Democratic 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg may have just ruined any 2020 chances he may have had after Vox put out an article detailing his support for Israel.
The left makes it no secret that they have a very sharp disdain for Israel, even going so far as to elect blatantly antisemitic people to Congress who in turn like to pretend they aren’t blatantly antisemitic after being blatantly antisemitic.
Vox released an article with a headline describing Buttigieg’s appreciation of Israel as a “strong ally” and that he’s behind the idea of keeping the US embassy in Jerusalem where Trump put it after he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s true capital. To say this set off some hard feelings would be an understatement.
The Vox article leads off by describing Buttigieg’s penchant for supporting Israel and keeping the embassy in Jerusalem:
But Pete Buttigieg, 2020 Democratic hopeful and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, isn’t one of those candidates. While he’s no fan of Netanyahu’s leadership, he has shown a consistent willingness to back Israel.
He did so again on Sunday in an interview with “Axios on HBO,” in which he said he wouldn’t reverse Trump’s embassy-move decision and called the country a “strong ally.”
“I think what’s done is done,” the former Navy intelligence officer said. “I don’t know that we’d gain much by moving it [back] to Tel Aviv.”
They also posted the clip released by Axios where Buttigieg explained his position. He details that he doesn’t necessarily believe that Trump made the right decision by moving the embassy to Jerusalem, but at this point, the damage is done.
Even the Axios interviewer attempts to nail Buttigieg with suggestions that he sides with Trump.
As I wrote about how the media likes to create narratives with minimal messaging in an easily shareable tweet, the social media message Vox spread was that Buttigieg is essentially of the same mind as Donald Trump.
“Pete Buttigieg calls Israel a “strong ally” and says he’d keep the US embassy in Jerusalem,” tweeted Vox.
Pete Buttigieg calls Israel a “strong ally” and says he’d keep the US embassy in Jerusalem https://t.co/Warl4GudKb
— Vox (@voxdotcom) June 17, 2019
Democrats were quick to respond by dismissing Buttigieg as a viable candidate for President immediately.
https://twitter.com/czarped/status/1140598411001028608
https://twitter.com/MarcHam95881661/status/1140591332555182080
coward
— (((Matthew Isles))) (@matthewisles) June 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/Hashimtaani/status/1140602930539765760
Wow thats ballsy…. what a joke.
— Vesper Glen (@VesperGlen) June 17, 2019
https://twitter.com/ponarirubble/status/1140591897322278914
Canceled pic.twitter.com/4g8MKkWKJr
— chad (@freebrightideas) June 17, 2019
It’s fascinating that they say that antisemitism is a disease on the right, yet Buttigieg made a valid point about the damage it would cause to move the embassy back and the nuance isn’t promoted, just the support for Israel.
The fact that Buttigieg doesn’t have a hard-line stance against Israel immediately cast him into a no-go zone for voters and media. I’m no fan of Buttigieg myself, but I can appreciate that the guy recognizes that Israel as a solid ally and that causing it problems only means more problems for us.
For the left, however, this is unforgivable. It’s so unforgivable that some leftists gave him the highest insult possible, and that’s a Trump comparison.
It’ll be interesting to see if Buttigieg walks back his Israel support during the course of the election or sticks to his guns. It’ll also be interesting to see how attitudes change toward Buttigieg from the Democrats side, and how the media addresses him from here on.
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