Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show where the two stressed over the ‘future of democracy as Democrats face major losses in the upcoming midterms.
Before Buttigieg appeared, during his monologue, Colbert lamented that “71 percent believes democracy is in peril, and yet, only 7% identified that as the most important problem facing the country. Kind of hard to fix anything else without a functioning democracy.”
After comparing those numbers to someone who sets their car ablaze by crashing it into a tree who then calls 911 to get their six CD changer fixed, Colbert continued, “These poll results have raised concerns that democratic erosion may have sent many citizens on a downward spiral of feeling powerless, apathetic, and disconnected. Yeah, but what can you do? It doesn’t matter. I don’t wanna think about it. By the way, ‘Powerless, Apathetic, and Disconnected’ were the original names of Snap, Crackle, and Pop.”
That 71 percent agree with that statement is not proof that 71 percent agree with Colbert, but he returned to the poll during his second segment with Buttigieg. However, he first had to fawn over Buttigieg himself, “you’re an excellent communicator. I thought you were a great candidate in 2020.”
He then asked, “How do you feel about the fact that there are 300 Republican candidates on the ballot in just a few weeks who question the legitimacy of the last election, and some who outright believe it should be overturned? When– you saw the New York Times poll, 71 percent of Americans believe that democracy is in peril. How do you run for office and do so to a public that is losing its faith in the legitimacy or at least the efficacy of their vote?”
Buttigieg replied that, “So, one of the most important principles in democracy is that when you lose, you accept the outcome…. And the reason that’s so important is because we expect the same thing from citizens in terms of policy decisions.”
He continued to compare accepting the results of elections you lose to legislation or court rulings that don’t go the way you would like, which is a fine statement in a vacuum, but it completely ignores the history of Democrats calling elections and court cases that don’t go their way illegitimate. Naturally, Colbert didn’t press Buttigieg on that point.
Buttigieg is currently getting his rear handed to him in Texas in the race against the current Governor, Greg Abbott so let’s see how he loses when votes are finally in.
Erica Carlin is an independent journalist, opinion writer and contributor to several news and opinion sources. She is based in Georgia.
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