South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s communications adviser on Thursday got into a Twitter spat with a Daily Wire reporter who alleged the presidential candidate suggested abstinence from plastic straws and meat.
Ryan Saavedra of the Daily Wire tweeted, “Buttigieg: Don’t eat meat or use plastic straws!” next to photos of the presidential candidate eating meat and using plastic straws Thursday.
Lis Smith, Buttigieg’s adviser, responded to the reporter’s tweet, saying that the South Bend mayor never said he would stop consuming meat or utilizing straws.
“Try that game with someone else,” she tweeted.{mosads}
Saavedra posted that he was referencing comments Buttigieg made on CNN Thursday.
“His words *verbatim* today on CNN: ‘From using a straw to eating a burger, am I part of the problem? In a certain way ‘yes,’ ” Saavedra said.
Smith responded by saying, “One of the better self owns I’ve seen in awhile. Congrats on dunking on yourself- come back and try to play another time!”
Buttigieg said in an interview on CNN’s “New Day” Thursday morning that the country can come together and be proud of taking little steps to mitigate the damages of climate change.
“See, right now we’re in a mode where we’re thinking of it mostly through the perspective of guilt, from using a straw to eating a burger,” Buttigieg said. “Am I part of the problem? In a certain way, yes. But the most exciting thing is that we can all be part of the solution.”
These comments come after 2020 presidential candidates took to the stage Wednesday for CNN’s climate town hall. Democratic candidates are prioritizing climate change in their campaigns and releasing plans on how to combat it.
Decreasing meat consumption and plastic straw usage has environmental benefits. Scientists found in a study released in January that meat consumption needs to be cut in half if the world will be able to sustain the growing population, according to National Geographic.
A 2017 study found that 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute beaches all over the world, National Geographic reported.