South Bend mayor and 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg blasted Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham during his Fox News town hall on Sunday night, before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd after his closing statement.
Despite some Democrats calling for a boycott of the network over its legitimacy, the 37-year-old presidential hopeful answered questions from voters in Claremont, New Hampshire, in an event moderated by Fox News host Chris Wallace.
Addressing the questions of bias that have plagued the media organization, Buttigieg called out two hosts in particular. "I get where that's coming from, especially when you see what goes on with some opinion hosts on this network," he said. "I mean, when you've got Tucker Carlson saying that immigrants make America dirty. When you've got Laura Ingraham comparing detention centers with children in cages to summer camps.
"There is a reason why anybody has to swallow hard and think twice before participating in this media ecosystem," he added.
Buttigieg defended his decision to appear on Fox News by arguing that while some of the network's hosts weren't operating in "good faith," many of the viewers were watching in good faith and deserved to hear the Democratic agenda.
Toward the end of the hour-long event, Wallace asked Buttigieg to deliver his closing statement.
"What we're trying to do here is different because the moment that we're in is different. I get that a millennial, midwestern mayor is not what leaps to mind when you think about a prototypical candidate for president," Buttigieg said. "If it's hard to figure out what's going on right now, it's because we are living on one of those blank pages in between chapters of American history. And what comes next could be ugly or it could be amazing."
He continued: "I believe running for office is an act of hope, and so is voting for somebody, and supporting somebody and volunteering for somebody. I hope you'll join me in making sure that that next era is better than any we've had so far."
"Thank you, mayor," Wallace said, as the crowd stood up and erupted into applause.
"Wow, a standing ovation," the Fox News Sunday host noted before announcing the next Fox News town hall with Democratic 2020 candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and ending the event.
Buttigieg's comments about Carlson and Ingraham arrived after Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez announced in March that the party would deny all requests from Fox News to host the primary debates because "we cannot rely on Fox to host a fair and neutral debate."
Buttigieg joins a few other Democratic candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who have completed town halls moderated by the network. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she refused to hold such an event with a network "designed to turn us against each other" and to "provide cover for the corruption that's rotting our government and hollowing out our middle class."
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