Cedar Rapids, Iowa — Former U.S. Transport Secretary Pete Battigegg said he was campaigning a series of values, not to return to political positions, because he was confused in Iowa this week.
“I’m not running at all right now,” he told reporters that organizers told reporters that about 1,800 people from Cedar Rapids were portrayed on Tuesday, May 13th.
It was a kind of homecoming for Buttigieg, who traveled extensively across Iowa during the course of his 2020 presidential campaign and rose from an unknown mayor of Indiana to the finest presidential candidate.
“It feels really good to be back in Iowa,” he cheered. “Anyone can come to Iowa just before the election comes. We wanted to make sure we had the opportunity to talk to people we came to know five or six years ago and people we saw for the first time.”
City Hall is hosted by the Voting Vets Action Fund, a progressive veteran organization, and is part of a broader effort by the group to drive public conversations about veteran issues.
It was a crowd only in the standing room at the Veterans Memorial in Cedar Rapids.
Pete Battigeg says Democrats must be better about laying out the country’s aggressive vision
Buttigieg spoke for about 20 minutes before asking questions from the crowd for about an hour. These questions covered a range of veteran issues and some that focused more on existential questions that Democrats and the nation face.
Buttigieg said that in order for Democrats to convert potential voters, they must have a more consistent vision for the future.
“Even in this moment, when opposition to the abuse that comes out of Washington doesn’t matter any more, this isn’t just something we’re trying to block,” he told the crowd. “It’s about what we’re determined to build, it’s about what could be better.
He appears as Iowa Democrats continue to tackle the fallout of the brutal election loss in 2024 and begin putting together strategies to get the ground back in 2026.
A series of Democratic candidates have announced they will run for various recent offices, including state auditor Rob Sand, who launched the governor’s campaign a day ago.
Iowa Democrat Chairman Rita Hart, who was present, said state Democrats were looking for someone to give them hope.
“They want to see the Democrats fighting back, they’re offering the truth,” she said. “There are so many problems that people get mad. They have a lot of emotions, but they want to see hope for the future.”
Buttigieg said it’s a moment of stepping up and making change, despite it being difficult to see Republican policies in place.
“What makes America great is its ability to wrestler the darkest demons and come out stronger and better,” he said.
Dubuque resident Kenneth Miller Jr. said he supported Buttigieg for the president during the 2020 Iowa Caucus Run, thanking him for hearing him again at Cedar Rapids.
Miller, a US Navy veteran, said he agrees with Buttigieg that Democrats need to talk better about what they support, rather than focusing on the enemy.
“That’s common sense,” he said. “…He speaks in full sentence. He describes himself.
Pete Buttigieg’s Iowa Visit SparksQuestion 2028 White House Run
Iowa will no longer drive away the Democratic presidential nomination calendar, but Buttigieg’s return has raised doubts about his future White House aspirations.
He recently ran for the US Senate in Michigan, spurring speculation that he could turn his eyes to another presidential election in 2028.
He refused to weigh it when asked by reporters whether Iowa should regain its first presidential membership. However, he touted what the Caucus experience did for his rise.
“People like me are takers and not makers of rules about it,” he said. “What I say is Iowa has taught me what happens through the process of having to be in your backyard and do four city halls a day, which has allowed people like me to emerge as national figures.
Buttigieg told reporters that if Joe Biden hadn’t decided to run for president first, Democrats would be better “probably.”
“And now, you know, benefiting from hindsight, I think most people would agree that,” he said. “We are not even in a position to be covered in hindsight. We have to prepare for basic tests for the future of this country and this party, some of which have continued this year.
Republicans dismiss Buttigieg’s “empty rhetoric”
Republicans denied the existence of Battigigues in the state.
Iowa Republican Speaker Jeff Kaufman said in a statement that Trump chased his promise to veterans “while Democrats were looking after them and doing politics.”
“President Trump has made veterans a top priority, bringing real results rather than empty rhetoric,” he said in a statement. “Whether it was improving access to healthcare, reduction of waste, or ending dennonsense in Virginia, he focused on honouring those who served.”
And Emily Tuttle, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, said in a statement that Battigeg’s visit amounted to a “fake political theatre.”
“Iowa Democrats are in full contact and will be able to decide the election for failed extremists supporting biological men in girls’ sports, free medical care for illegal immigrants,” she said.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is a leading political reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @briannedmr.
