Pete Buttigieg walked into CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning and gave one of the best critiques of Trump’s economic policies in a long time. He did it all while one of the hosts was trying to help Trump out.
It started with the Iran war.
Buttigieg, a veteran who knows what it’s like to be in a war zone, pointed out the hypocrisy right away: “How do you feel about that regime still being in power under this president? I thought we were getting rid of them.” When host Joe Kernan tried to answer, Buttigieg was ready with the truth: “It’s the case now.”
Then came the inflation part.
Kernan said inflation was at 2.7%. Buttigieg argued it was over 3% year on year. Kernan disagreed. Then co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin stepped in: “It’s 3.3% year on year. The math is direct. The math is the math.”
Pete Buttigieg was right, and Kernan was corrected in real time by his own co-host.
Buttigieg didn’t act like he was winning.
He kept pushing the point with clear, precise words: “It was 3% when he got here, and now it’s more. It could not be simpler than that. He said on day one it would go down. He came in on day one and now it’s up. He not only failed, he drove it up.”
When Kernan tried to say the impact of tariffs on families was “minimal,” Buttigieg responded with a strong, direct hit: “You tell a family where I live that $1,000 per household is minimal.
“
And when Kernan suggested the way forward was to “get through this war,” Buttigieg shot back: “We didn’t have to be fighting this war.
What are we doing?” He pointed out that even the MAGA voters, who supported Trump because they believed his anti-war words, weren’t backing an illegal war against Iran when gas prices were over $4, jet fuel was at $200, and oil was at $100 a barrel.
He then said something that could be on a bumper sticker: “Usually, they make difficult decisions to try to make other people better off.
This president’s made decisions to make himself better off. If you’re the kind of person who can pay a million bucks for the entry fee to Mar-a-Lago, then you’re doing great. But everybody else is hurting right now.”
Then came the final point.
Kernan said Democrats would get a chance to show their popularity in November. Buttigieg smiled: “We had a chance to prove it last week.” He was in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district — a place that voted for Trump by a 38% margin — and drew 500 people.
Pete Buttigieg came to CNBC this morning with facts, real evidence, and the moral authority of a veteran.
He left with all three. Joe Kernan? Not so much.
About the Author
