Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) hammered former Vice President Joe Biden on the issue of experience at Friday’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire.
Buttigieg, asked about Biden’s earlier claim that the former mayor was a risky choice for the Democratic nomination due to his lack of national political experience, said that he brought a fresh view to the table.
“I just bring a different perspective,” Buttigieg said.
“Look, I freely admit that if you’re looking for the person with the most years of Washington establishment experience, then you’ve got your candidate, and it’s not me,” he continued, as a split-screen showed a grinning Biden listening to the mayor’s response. “The perspective that I’m bringing is that of somebody whose life was shaped by the decisions that are made in those big, white buildings in Washington, D.C.”
“We need a perspective right now that will finally allow us to leave the politics of the past in the past, turn the page, and bring change to Washington before it’s too late,” he added.
Buttigieg and Biden’s clash comes as the former mayor outshined Biden in the Iowa caucuses, virtually tying Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) while the former vice president sat in fourth place behind Biden, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Biden had questioned Buttigieg’s experience in remarks at a campaign stop on Wednesday, calling the former mayor a risky bet for Democrats in November.
“I do believe it’s a risk, to be just straight up with you, for this party to nominate someone who’s never held an office higher than a mayor of 100,000 people in Indiana,” he said. “He has enormous potential, but I think we need a president who can bring us together, a president who can unite the party and unite the country.”