>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY!
WELCOME BACK TO THE SHOW!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MY NEXT
GUEST IS THE MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA,
AND HE'S RUNNING TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
PLEASE WELCOME MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) ( BAND PLAYING )
WELCOME TO THE SHOW.
>> THANKS.
THANKS FOR HAVING US.
>> Stephen: WHEN DID YOU DECLARE YOUR CANDIDACY.
>> WE ANNOUNCED OUR EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE THREE WEEKS AGO
YESTERDAY.
>> Stephen: THAT MEANS YOU'RE EXPLORING TO SEE WHETHER YOU
WILL RUN?
PEOPLE START WITH THAT BUT -- >> YOU GET KNOWN, RAISE THE
MONEY, PUT THE ORGANIZATION IN PLACE AND AS THE SIGNS CONTINUE
TO POINT TO YES, ONE BIG DAY YOU HAVE YOUR LAUNCH.
>> Stephen: IS YOUR APPEARANCE ON THIS SHOW PART OF THE
EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE?
>> I'M EXPLORING.
>> Stephen: I'M SORRY I DIDN'T HAVE A HELMET FOR US.
FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW.
TELL THE PEOPLE WHO YOU ARE.
>> THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD, BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH BEND, AN
INDUSTRIAL CITY IN THE MID BEST.
VETERAN OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, EIGHTH YEAR AS MAYOR AND JUST
OPENED AN EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
>> Stephen: 37?
YES, SIR.
>> Stephen: IF YOU WERE TO WIN, YOU WOULD BE THE YOUNGEST
PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
>> THAT'S RIGHT.
>> Stephen: YOUNGER THAN T.R.
YEAH.
>> Stephen: WHAT'S THE RUSH?
WHY RUN FOR PRESIDENT NOW?
WHY NOT GET A LITTLE MORE SALT AND PEPPER IN THE HAIR AND A
LITTLE MORE MOSS UNDER THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET BEFORE YOU RUN FOR
PRESIDENT?
>> WELL, I DON'T THINK YOU DO THIS BECAUSE YOU WANT TO DO IT
SOME DAY.
I THINK YOU RUN FOR ANY OFFICE BECAUSE YOU THINK THE NEEDS OF
THE OFFICE MEET THE MOMENT AND WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TABLE.
AND, YOU KNOW, IN MANY WAYS, I THINK BEING FROM A YOUNGER
GENERATION, IT'S ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS TO DO THIS.
I BELONG TO THE SCHOOL SHOOTING GENERATION.
I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN COLUMBINE HAPPENED.
WE'RE THE GENERATION THAT PROVIDED UPMOST OF THE TROOPS
FOR THE CONFLICT AFTER 9/11 AND THE TROOPS THAT WITHIN HERE IN
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FIRST GENERATION TO MAKE LESS THAN OUR
PARENTS.
NO ONE HAS MORE AT STAKE THAN YOUNGER PEOPLE COMING UP.
I THINK ABOUT THE WAY THE WORLD WILL LOOK IN 2054 WHEN I REACH
THE AGE TO HAVE THE CURRENT PRESIDENT, WHY NOT HAVE SOMEONE
WHO VIEWS THE COUNTRY THE WAY IT IS THAT YEAR.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: YOU'RE THE MAYOR
OF SOUTH BEND.
HOW BIG?
>> JUST OVER $100,000.
>> Stephen: AND THE NEXT JOB YOU WOULD LIKE IS TO BE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE LEADER OF THE FREE
WORLD.
I DON'T SAY THAT NECESSARILY AS A BIG JOKE.
THAT'S A BIG LEAP.
IT'S NOT AS BIG A LEAP AS, YOU KNOW, REALITY SHOW HOST TO
PRESIDENT.
>> CLEARLY.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: BUT IT IS A BIG
LEAP, YOU WILL ADMIT.
>> NO, IT IS, BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, I MEAN -- YES, LOOK,
IT'S AUDACIOUS, ALMOST OBSERVE SCENE FOR SOMEBODY MY AGE, BUT
REALLY ANY HUMAN BEING TO THINK THEY BELONG IN THAT OFFICE AND,
YET, EVERYBODY WHO'S HAD THAT OFFICE IS A MODERATELE HUMAN
BEING WHO'S BROUGHT THEIR EXPERIENCE TO THE TABLE.
I HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT THAN THE PRESIDENT,
MORE EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE THAN THE VICE PRESIDENT.
I HAVE MORE MILITARY EXPERIENCE THAN ANYONE TO ARRIVE AT THAT
DESK SINCE GEORGE H.W. BUSH.
( APPLAUSE ) IT MIGHT SOUND CHEEKY, BUT
LARGELY THIS IS ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE.
AS MAYOR, YOU ARE ON THE FRONT LINES.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING.
ONE MINUTE PARKS AND REC, THE NEXT THING AN OFFICER SHOOTING
WITH RACIAL SENSITIVITY AND YOU HAVE TO HANDLE IT ALL.
YOU UNDERSTAND THE JOB OF LEADERSHIP IN GOVERNMENT IS
MAKING POLICY, YES, CAPABLY RUNNING AN ADMINISTRATION FOR
SURE BUT ALSO JUST BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND ALL THREE OF
THE ELEMENTS ARE SORELY MISSING IN THE CURRENT OCCUPANT OF THE
WHITE HOUSE.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: THIS IS ALL TRUE.
IF ELECTED, YOU WOULD BE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES.
>> YEP.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: AND AS I SAID,
WHEN WE FIRST TALKED ABOUT YOU ANNOUNCING, WHEN WE WERE TALKING
ABOUT IT IN YOUR MONOLOGUE LAST WEEK, WHAT I SAID IS WHAT I
REALLY LIKE ABOUT AMERICA NOW IS THAT'S THE THIRD THING I LEARNED
ABOUT YOU.
THAT'S NO LONG THE BANNER HEADLINE FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS
TO RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A TRAILBLAZER IN THIS WAY?
>> ON THE ONE HAND I'M VERY CONSCIOUS OF THE HISTORIC NATURE
TO HAVE THE CANDIDACY LIKE THAT, AND I HOPE IT MAKES IT EASIER
FOR THE NEXT PERSON WHO COMES ALONG, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO
WORK TOWARD A WORLD WHERE IT'S NOT NEWSWORTHY AT ALL.
IT WAS HARD TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO COME OUT.
I WAS MAYOR, ALREADY.
I REACHED THE POINT WHERE I WANTED TO COME OUT AND HAVE A
PERSONAL LIFE.
INCONVENIENTLY I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A REELECTION CAMPAIGN
AND I DECIDED IT WAS THE TIME TO DO IT.
WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE POLITICS WOULD BE.
I'M FROM A SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE COMMUNITY.
I CAME OUT THERE, SAID WHO I WAS AND GOT REELECTED WITH 80% OF
THE VOTE.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WAS MIKE PENCE
GOVERNOR AT THE TIME?
>> YEAH, MIKE PENCE WAS THE GOVERNOR AT THE TIME.
>> Stephen: DID YOU WORK WITH MIKE PENCE?
>> YEAH, IT'S THE JOB OF MAYOR TO WORK WITH ANYBODY WHO CAN
BENEFIT THE CITY.
>> Stephen: GOOD GUY?
EVERYBODY LIKE HIM?
>> HE'S NICE.
IF HE WERE HERE YOU WOULD THINK HE IS A NICE GUY TO YOUR FACE
BUT HE'S PHI NATCALLY.
HE BELIEVES CIGARETTES DON'T KILL AND THE UNIVERSE WAS
CREATED A FEW THOUSAND YEARS AGO AND PEOPLE LIKE ME GET UP IN THE
MORNING AND DECIDE TO BE GAY.
IF THAT WAS A CHOICE, IT WAS A CHOICE MADE WAY ABOVE MY PAY
GRADE.
SO WHAT HE DOESN'T REALIZE IS THAT HIS QUARREL IS WITH MY
CREATOR.
MY MARRIAGE MOVED ME CLOSER TO GOD AND I WISH HE RESPECTED
THAT.
( APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: DONALD TRUMPICS
LOOKS LIKE HE'S DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY?
HE'S SAYING THE BORDER, THE CARAVANS, THE SUPERCARS -- HIS
WORDS NOT MINE -- WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
>> AS A MAYOR, YOU KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT EMERGENCIES.
TWO TIMES, WE HAD TO ACTIVATE THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER
IN SOUTH BEND.
THEY WERE 18 MONTHS APART.
ONE WAS FOR A THOUSAND-YEAR FLOOD AND ONE WAS WHAT WE WERE
TOLD WAS A 500-YEAR FLOOD.
WHICH EITHER MEANS I HAVE PROPROS TROUSE STATISTICAL LUCK
OR WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.
IT'S NOT JUST HAPPENING ON THE NORTH POLE, IT'S HAPPENING IN
COMMUNITIES LIKE MINE.
THAT'S AN EMERGENCY.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE ) >> Stephen: WELL, YOU GOT A
NEW BOOK.
IT'S CALLED THE SHORTEST WAY HOME.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, EVERYBODY.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, MR. MAYOR.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CAMPAIGN.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK.