Pete Buttigieg: Time for Radical Change

Summary

The Bulwark Podcast: "Pete Buttigieg: Time for Radical Change"

Date: July 14, 2026
Guest: Pete Buttigieg (former Mayor of South Bend, ex-Secretary of Transportation)
Host: Tim Miller

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Tim Miller sits down with Pete Buttigieg following Buttigieg’s keynote speech at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice dinner in Des Moines. The conversation covers the current energy among Iowa Democrats, the importance of practical communication in politics, and reactions to recent tragic news involving police violence. Themes of hope, the need for radical change, and connecting authentically with voters are interwoven throughout the discussion.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reinvigorating Iowa Democrats

• Event Atmosphere:
  Buttigieg reflects on the energy at the Liberty and Justice dinner, noting a sense of reunion and renewed optimism among Iowa Democrats despite recent setbacks.

  • [00:59] Pete Buttigieg: “Great. Really good energy. Really? It felt kind of like a reunion because there are all these memories of when I was here in 2020... I just really feel good about our chances in Iowa.”

• Electoral Opportunity:
  Buttigieg stresses Iowa’s unique potential for Democratic gains, considering the number of flippable seats and statewide positions at stake.

  • [01:34] Pete Buttigieg: “This is maybe the only place where you have a chance to get that many House seats flipped and a Senate seat and the governor’s office at the same time.”

• Midwestern Appeal:
  Buttigieg argues that Democratic values align with the everyday principles valued in the Midwest. He believes energizing these voters is key to broad national progress.

  • [01:54] Pete Buttigieg: “I think this Midwest region is an especially important place… because we can show how what we believe about policy... comes into alignment in the way that people in this part of the country really care about.”

2. Connecting Through ‘Regular Person’ Language

• Effective Communication:
  The host and Buttigieg discuss how Iowa politicians tend to communicate more like “regular people,” contrasting it with the jargon-heavy rhetoric often heard in national Democratic circles.

  • [02:34] Interviewer: “You just talk like a regular person, which is really nice… Democrats talk about talking like a regular person and then you end up actually still kind of using the types of terms that you’d use like a Grinnell Symposium...”
  • [02:58] Pete Buttigieg: “Just having that kind of normal human style and approach in vocabulary is rewarded in some places maybe more than others... and I think it’s rewarded here.”

• Political Culture in Iowa:
  The speakers agree that authenticity, mirrored in plainspoken language, matters to Iowa voters—potentially more so than in other regions.

  • [03:09] Pete Buttigieg: “The politics of a place like Iowa.”

3. Reaction to Breaking News: Immigration and Police Violence

• Incident in Maine:
  The podcast pauses planned topics to quickly react to news of a fatal police shooting of a Colombian man with work authorization in Biddeford, Maine.

  • [03:53] Pete Buttigieg: “First of all, it’s stomach turning and upsetting. We don’t know a lot, we don’t know everything. But we know that this keeps happening or some version of this keeps happening.”

• Distrust Toward Federal Claims:
  Buttigieg points out instances where DHS narratives have later proven false, further undermining public confidence.

  • [04:31] Pete Buttigieg: “This administration's Homeland Security Department has already been caught in another case saying that somebody was trying to ram federal agents and that turning out not to be true.”

• Concerns for Victims:
  Buttigieg expresses deep empathy for the innocent family members, especially the child involved in the Maine incident.

  • [04:50] Buttigieg: “Whatever else anybody winds up learning or saying or claiming, for God’s sake, obviously she [the child] does not deserve to be mixed up in any of this.”

• Calls for Change:
  Buttigieg ties the tragedy to a larger argument that such violence isn’t making Americans safer or the country better, underscoring a call for change.

  • [05:07] Pete Buttigieg: “It’s so upsetting. And again, it’s happening in this context where we keep hearing word of this kind of violence that is not making anybody safer or better off. It’s not making America a better place.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Hope for Iowa Democrats:
  “I just really feel good about our chances in Iowa.”
  — Pete Buttigieg [00:59]

• On Midwest Political Culture:
  “It really makes a difference to our vocabulary and our body language and our ability to connect versus the places that are kind of already the biggest strongholds of the party.”
  — Pete Buttigieg [02:19]

• On Authentic Communication:
  “Just having that kind of normal human style and approach in vocabulary is rewarded in some places maybe more than others.”
  — Pete Buttigieg [02:58]

• On Police Violence:
  “We know that this keeps happening or some version of this keeps happening. And we know that this kind of thing doesn’t have to keep happening.”
  — Pete Buttigieg [03:53]

• On Empathy in Tragedy:
  “For God’s sake, obviously she does not deserve to be mixed up in any of this.”
  — Pete Buttigieg [04:50]

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Timestamped Guide to Major Segments

• 00:00–01:34: Reflections on Iowa, energy among Democrats, post-caucus landscape.
• 01:34–03:09: The importance of regular language and authentic connections with voters.
• 03:09–05:07: Breaking news reaction—police shooting in Maine, systemic issues, mistrust, and the human toll.

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode captures Pete Buttigieg’s optimism for the future of Democrats in the Midwest, the power of authentic political communication, and the urgent need for moral clarity and radical change in response to systemic violence. The conversation, rooted in current events and Buttigieg’s personal insights, offers both a hopeful vision and a call to action for listeners invested in practical, humane, and effective politics.

Transcript

[Pete Buttigieg]

A lot of what we see happening because of the administration is like right out of the worst nightmares of my conservative and libertarian friends.

[Tim Miller]

Hello and welcome to the Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller, coming at you from my old stomping grounds in Des Moines, Iowa. On Sunday evening, I was at the Liberty and Justice dinner put on by the Iowa Democratic Party. That was conveniently for me at Prairie Meadows Casino, where I spent a lot of time on the crowd back in my heyday. So it's nice to get back into town. And I was here to have a little chat with the keynote speaker at that dinner. I'm delighted to be able to sit down with him today. You might know him as the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, former Secretary of transportation, Navy veteran, winner of the 2020 Democratic caucuses right here in Iowa, that's Pete Buttigieg. Hey, Pete.

[Interviewer/Host]

How's it going? I'm good.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Thanks for having me.

[Interviewer/Host]

How was it on Sunday night?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Great. Really good energy. Really? It felt kind of like a reunion because there are all these memories of when I was here in 2020, but also I just really feel good about our chances in Iowa.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, to me, it felt like even in the room, some of the Iowa

[Interviewer/Host]

Democrats have been depleted. You know, I come try to come back to Iowa every year. I got a lot of old friends here from my campaigns past and I don't know, I went to an event in 24 and, you know, it's just

[Tim Miller]

Republicans have controlled the state for 10

[Interviewer/Host]

years and like, after a while, eventually you get beaten down.

[Tim Miller]

And it does.

[Interviewer/Host]

It did feel like there was a little bit of a jolt of energy among the Iowa Dems.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah, I think so. And it's, you know, it's not just vibes. I mean, people are seeing it in the numbers, you're seeing it in what's possible. And as the Iowa Democrats are quick to point out, this is maybe the only place where you have a chance to get that many House seats flipped and a Senate seat and the governor's office at the same time. And I also think, I mean, this is a little provincial of me maybe, but I think this Midwest region is an especially important place to prove that out because I think we can show how what we believe about policy and what we believe about just how people ought to treat each other and how people ought to act all kind of comes into alignment in the way that people in this part of the country really care about. And then in turn, the other thing that excites me is I think when we have more wins in places like this. We have more voices inside the party who are elected, who are from places like this. And it really makes a difference to our vocabulary and our body language and our ability to connect versus the places that are kind of already the biggest strongholds of the party.

[Interviewer/Host]

I was talking to a state senator from Sioux City who was there and just at the end of the conversation I looked at her. I was like, you just talk like a regular person, which is really nice. I think a lot of times the Democrats talk about talking like a regular person and then you end up actually still kind of using the types of terms that you'd use like a Grinnell Symposium or in like activist meetings or whatever. And it's just different, you know.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah. And I think just having that kind of normal human style and approach in vocabulary is rewarded in some places maybe more than others. And I think it's rewarded here. The politics of a place like Iowa.

[Interviewer/Host]

I want to talk about your speech and the big themes of it for a lot of the show. But we do have some news today. We're taping this Monday afternoon, so there could be more that comes out by the time this publishes. But there's a man killed today in another ice shooting in Biddeford, Maine. He's a 26 year old from Columbia with work authorization. We don't exactly know what that was. Likely an asylum applicant. He was shot six times while he was driving. After they shot him, they still pulled him out of the car, dropped him to the ground and handcuffed him. It appears there's a three year old girl on the scene, maybe his daughter in bluey pajamas. Just another one of these things. We have, obviously the shooting in Houston earlier this week. So I was just wondering your initial reactions.

[Pete Buttigieg]

I mean, first of all, it's stomach turning and upsetting. We don't know a lot, we don't know everything. But we know that this keeps happening or some version of this keeps happening. And we know that this kind of thing doesn't have to keep happening. And another thing that's on my mind again, you know, we've, we've just learned about this. More information is probably coming in the next hours, in the next day. But, you know, this administration's Homeland Security Department has already been caught in another case saying that somebody was trying to ram federal agents and, and that turning out not to be true. Right?

[Tim Miller]

Yeah.

[Pete Buttigieg]

So I think we have more questions at a moment like this than we would if we could trust our federal government. And then you think about people who are caught up in this. I mean, if these reports turn out to be true, about a three year old child on the scene,

[Interviewer/Host]

six shots like what could possibly.

[Pete Buttigieg]

And whatever else anybody winds up learning or saying or claiming, for God's sake, obviously she does not deserve to be mixed up in any of this. And I don't know, we'll learn more, but it's so upsetting. And again, it's happening in this context where we keep hearing word of this kind of violence that is not making anybody safer or better off. It's not making America a better place.