Fmr. Sec. Pete Buttigieg | LIVE!

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode: Fmr. Sec. Pete Buttigieg | LIVE!
Release Date: March 4, 2025
Host: CBS
Guest: Former Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg
Description: The #1 show in late night delivered straight to your ears, featuring Stephen Colbert's witty monologues and in-depth conversations with celebrity and political guests.

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Monologue: Stephen Colbert on President Trump's Speech

Timestamp Highlights:

• [02:08] Colbert opens with enthusiasm about the live Mardi Gras audience, setting a lively tone.

• [04:15 – 07:03] He humorously critiques President Trump's speech, highlighting its focus on superficial topics rather than substantive policy issues.

  • "The theme of tonight's speech was the renewal of the American dream. Yeah, I don't know if I want to sign up for the renewal." [02:09]

  • "He bragged about what he calls his accomplishments. I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America. It's back." [06:20]

  • "Our country will be woke no longer." [07:14]

• [07:03 – 09:15] Colbert mocks Trump's pronunciation of foreign countries and his administration's policies, using sharp wit to underline perceived incompetencies.

  • "Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of." [08:42]

  • "He got a rubber chicken in here someplace and some chattering teeth." [07:38]

• [09:57 – 12:25] The monologue continues with Colbert addressing Trump's misinformation and policy missteps, such as the Social Security database issue and tariffs.

  • "Over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years." [09:57]

  • "Two days ago, I signed an order making English the official language of the United States of Americ." [06:45]

• [15:24 – 15:49] Colbert concludes the monologue by critiquing Trump's overall performance and the lack of meaningful substance in his address.

  • "Another two hours we'll never get back. I would like to apologize to our audience for making them watch it." [15:49]

  • "Trump's first address to Congress was much like his first six weeks, filled with useful lies and applauded by useless idiots." [15:49]

Summary: Stephen Colbert's monologue delivers a sharp, comedic critique of President Trump's speech, emphasizing the lack of substantive policy discussion and highlighting various perceived gaffes and policy missteps. Through humor and satire, Colbert underscores concerns about Trump's administration's priorities and effectiveness, particularly in areas like government censorship, language policy, and economic measures such as tariffs.

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Interview: Former Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Key Discussion Points:

1. State of the Union and Political Division

   • [18:13 – 19:05] Buttigieg describes the current state of the Union as "roiling" with deep divisions exacerbated by President Trump's leadership.

     • "We've got divisions that we didn't think could get any worse, that have been picked at and punched at again and again by the president." [18:23]

2. Analysis of Trump's Speech

   • [19:13 – 20:12] He criticizes Trump's focus on symbolic gestures over tangible policies, noting the absence of discussions on pressing issues like the economy and inflation.

     • "It's always going to be about they're going to talk about Greenland and about pronouns and about mice and not about what's going to actually make our lives better." [19:13]

   • Poll Insights: Buttigieg references polls showing high public demand for addressing economic issues, contrasting with the administration's lack of action.

     • "About 85, somewhere in the mid-80s, people wanted him mostly to address issues of the economy and inflation." [20:12]

3. Economic Policies and Tariffs

   • [21:49 – 22:36] Discussion on Trump's imposition of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, highlighting the immediate impact on consumers through increased prices.

     • "When you look at your receipt, there's not going to be a line on there that says Trump tax, even though that's what it is." [21:49]

     • "He's increasing prices on purpose. On purpose." [22:36]

4. Foreign Policy and Support for Ukraine

   • [24:33 – 27:33] Buttigieg critiques Trump's foreign policy, particularly the contradictory stance towards allies and adversaries, and the suspension of military aid to Ukraine.

     • "Everybody knows this is not an abstract academic theory. Like one of the basic ideas of foreign policy is you fight your enemies and you help your friend. Canada is our friend, Russia is our adversary, and he's got us fighting Canada and helping Russia." [24:33]

     • "This is a plan on the part of President Trump to sell out Ukraine to Russia." [26:19]

5. Dismantling the Federal Government

   • [28:34 – 29:57] Examination of the administration's approach to federal workforce reductions, emphasizing randomness and lack of accountability.

     • "They fired thousands of people across the government just because they can. And sometimes they did it by accident." [28:59]

     • "This is really important stuff." [29:57]

6. LGBTQ Protections and Moral Direction

   • [31:07 – 32:26] Buttigieg discusses the administration's rollback of protections for the LGBTQ community and the broader moral implications for the nation.

     • "Our nation has always been at its best when it widens the circle of belonging and equality to take care of more people and not less." [32:26]

7. Democratic Strategy Moving Forward

   • [32:46 – 34:08] Buttigieg outlines strategies for the Democratic Party to counteract the current administration's policies, focusing on engagement, accountability, and upholding democratic values.

     • "You gotta hold elected officials accountable, like what's going on at these town halls, and you gotta organize." [32:46]

     • "I campaigned on freedom, security, and democracy back when I was running for president. And I still believe that is the core that should drive our message." [32:46]

8. Potential Political Future

   • [33:36 – 34:17] Addressing speculation about his own political ambitions, Buttigieg emphasizes his commitment to public service irrespective of future office-seeking.

     • "I have not decided what that means professionally, whether that means running for office soon or not, but I will make myself useful." [33:50]

     • "It's been challenging... but also one of the things I find just going through life... making the most of that even as I'm watching what's going on in our country." [34:17]

Notable Quotes:

• "We've got divisions that we didn't think could get any worse..." — Pete Buttigieg [18:23]

• "It's always going to be about they're going to talk about Greenland and about pronouns and about mice and not about what's going to actually make our lives better." — Pete Buttigieg [19:13]

• "He's increasing prices on purpose. On purpose." — Pete Buttigieg [22:36]

• "This is a plan on the part of President Trump to sell out Ukraine to Russia." — Pete Buttigieg [26:19]

• "Our nation has always been at its best when it widens the circle of belonging and equality..." — Pete Buttigieg [32:26]

• "You gotta hold elected officials accountable... and you gotta organize." — Pete Buttigieg [32:46]

Summary: In an insightful interview, former Secretary Pete Buttigieg offers a critical analysis of President Trump's first six weeks in office. He highlights the deepening political divisions, the administration's focus on symbolic gestures over substantive policy, and detrimental economic measures like increased tariffs that burden consumers. Buttigieg also condemns Trump's contradictory foreign policy actions, particularly the undermining of support for Ukraine and the erratic dismantling of the federal workforce. Emphasizing the importance of upholding democratic values and equality, Buttigieg outlines a strategic approach for the Democratic Party to re-engage and address the nation's pressing issues. He underscores the necessity of accountability, active participation, and a commitment to inclusive governance as foundational to reversing the current administration's policies and restoring national unity.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert masterfully blends sharp political satire with a substantive discussion on national issues. Stephen Colbert's monologue provides a comedic yet critical lens on President Trump's inaugural address and administration policies, effectively setting the stage for a more earnest dialogue with Pete Buttigieg. The interview delves deep into the challenges facing the nation, critiquing the current administration's approach to governance, economics, and foreign policy, while also offering a blueprint for Democratic strategies moving forward. Through humor and insightful commentary, the episode engages listeners in a meaningful conversation about the state of the Union and the path towards healing and progress.

Transcript

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[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, hello, my friends. How are we doing? Please have a seat. Welcome. Oh, that is lovely. That is lovely. You can feel the electricity in this room tonight because we are live right there. And Louis, you know this is not just any live audience.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Oh, no, no, no.

[Stephen Colbert]

This is a live Mardi Gras audience right now. And it is so fitting because just like on Bourbon street tonight, we all got to see some boobs. We didn't even have to throw any beads. I still got all my bead. The theme of tonight's speech was the renewal of the American dream. Yeah, I don't know if I want to sign up for the renewal. Can't I just use a different email to get another free trial to see how this is? There had Been rumors that Elon Musk would be at Trump's speech, but apparently he was hanging out even earlier because he rode in the motorcade. And Melania. No, no, I disagree. I think it's impressive that with only three people it can still be a clown car. Many women on the Democratic side showed up dressed in fuchsia. It's the kind of bold protest that says this and your magenta cartridge is working. In addition to the outfits, the Democrats came prepared to stand up to authoritarianism with a wide array of props, including a whiteboard and pocket constitutions. That, my friends, is how you stop fascism. In the immortal words of Martin Niemoller, first they came for the trade unionists. And I pulled out a pink blazer and a mimeograph. Take that, Adolf. Put em up. I got a rubber chicken in here someplace and some chattering teeth. Then it was time for Trump's entrance. And when the cameras cut to Melania, she gave him her warmest welcome.

[Comedian 1]

No. Oh no.

[Stephen Colbert]

He can't have escaped. The witch promised me the amulet would work. President Trump took to the podium immediately, predicted a bright future for his administration.

[Donald Trump]

America's momentum is back, our spirit is back, our pride is back, our confidence is back. And the American dream is surging, bigger and better than ever before.

[Comedian 1]

That dream, an affordable Denver omelette. We will get there one day. Side of toast. The Denny's Grand.

[Stephen Colbert]

Then, just minutes into the speech, all hell broke loose. Democrats stood up, started booing. Speaker Mike Johnson threatened them with expulsion if they didn't sit down. And ultimately Johnson called in the sergeant at arms to remove 77 year old Texas Congressman Al Green. Now, some people, some people have questioned why so much muscle was needed to remove one old man with a cane. But it turns out it was for a serious reason. When security searched him, they found that he had smuggled in a spine after the. Yeah, dangerous. You can't have that. You can't have that. After the interruption, Trump whined about the opposition once again.

[Donald Trump]

I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I don't know. Try saying I resign. You might get a. Might get a. There you go. People in here seem happy. Trump tried to brag about what he calls his accomplishments.

[Donald Trump]

I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America. It's back.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, thank goodness. Somebody go tell Congressman Green just, just knock on the side of that windowless. Van they shoved him into. Tell him to bring his cane. Trump bragged about excluding millions of Americans with his dumb executive orders.

[Donald Trump]

Two days ago, I signed an order making English the official language of the United States of Americ.

[Comedian 1]

And one day, I hope to learn it myself. It's a musical. It's a musical bird like tongue.

[Stephen Colbert]

The President. Our president. He's our president, that is. The President made sure to throw out all of his favorite nonsense buzzwords.

[Donald Trump]

Our country will be woke no longer.

[Comedian 1]

No longer awoke. I am placing a pillow over the country's face and whispering, sleep, sleep. It'll all be over soon.

[Stephen Colbert]

He bragged on.

[Donald Trump]

The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.

[Comedian 1]

And the days of rule by unelected billionaires have just begun. Elon.

[Stephen Colbert]

Take a bow, Elon.

[Comedian 1]

You paid for it. No, no. He paid for it.

[Stephen Colbert]

The man barked out one appalling claim after another. But don't you worry, the Democrats came ready to fight back with their little paddles. Okay? That is how you save democracy. By quietly dissenting or bidding on an antique tea set. It was hard to tell what was going on. I'm just kidding. That was very cool, Democrats. In fact, I made my own sign. When Trump got around to bragging about the cuts and the slashes and the firings that Doge has made in usaid, he had a hard time pronouncing every country in the world in Mali, Uganda.

[Donald Trump]

Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.

[Comedian 1]

No, it's true. Mali, Lesotho, all those fake countries in the imaginary continent of Ufrika. No, it's right next to. Right next to Paprika. Right? There he goes. Opie.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oof.

[Comedian 1]

Papa.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's not good. Okay, that is not good that he can't do that. But let's just take a moment to be thankful. He didn't try to pronounce Niger then. That's why I'm thankful.

[Comedian 1]

There you go.

[Stephen Colbert]

Then Trump went on a long tangent about Social Security database issue that's already been debunked by multiple sources. None of it's true. Basically because of how the database is coded. For Social Security, any incomplete birth date defaults to a placeholder date in the 1800s, specifically chosen so no idiots would mistake it for a real birth date. Well, almost no idiots.

[Donald Trump]

Over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years.

[Stephen Colbert]

Old, and all of them are in the U.S. senate. Now, Trump tried bragging about his tariffs, that everyone hates Mexico and Canada.

[Donald Trump]

Have you heard of them?

[Stephen Colbert]

No. No, I Haven't you mean Muxiki and Canabla? Trump gave a shout out to some of his biggest supporters.

[Donald Trump]

I love the farmer.

[Comedian 1]

I love the farmer. He tells me what the cow says when I spin the little arrow. He's always there for me. Hello, farmer. How they fit him in the thing? I don't know.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm sorry, sir. You were pandering to farmers.

[Donald Trump]

Our farmers are going to have a field day right now.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, but when you're a farmer, technically, isn't every day a field day? At one point. At one point, Trump talked about a bill relating to online deepfake harassment. And, of course, somehow he made it about himself.

[Donald Trump]

Once it passes the House, I look forward to signing that bill into law. Thank you. And I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind. Cause nobody gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, I'm not sure that's true. Have you seen what people are doing to J.D. vance? Did you hear that? No. And I want to point out Those pictures of J.D. are wrong.

[Comedian 1]

Okay?

[Stephen Colbert]

And you can tell they're wrong because they are hilarious. Trump bragged about his executive orders on immigration.

[Donald Trump]

The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation. We must have legislation to secure the border. But it turned out that all we really needed was a new president.

[Stephen Colbert]

I get that he's your guy, but isn't it weird for members of Congress to applaud him for taking all their power away? Whoa.

[Comedian 1]

We're worthless worms.

[Stephen Colbert]

Choke. Choke us, Daddy. Come on. Yeah.

[Jeff Probst]

Come on.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'm hip.

[Comedian 1]

I know what goes on.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Oh.

[Stephen Colbert]

Then there was a long run where he acknowledged guests in the gallery, all the special guests that he had brought there. These were average Americans, many of whom had tragic stories. But there was an unexpected moment of joy for one little boy who dreamed of being a policeman.

[Donald Trump]

Tonight, dj, we're going to do you the biggest honor of them all. I am asking our new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make you an agent of the United States Secret Service.

[Stephen Colbert]

That was really beautiful, wasn't it? That was so sweet to see this boy have his dream come true. And I love the expression on the little boy's face when he heard what the President said. I had the exact same expression for almost the entire speech. Then we reach the transphobic part of the speech where the President made this paradoxical statement.

[Donald Trump]

Our message to every child in America is that you are perfect exactly the way God made you.

[Comedian 1]

Unless God made you transgender or from the magical land of Lesotho. Tough luck. Tough luck being imaginary.

[Stephen Colbert]

Trump took the opportunity to shout out his new Secretary of Defense and Pete.

[Donald Trump]

Congratulations, Secretary of Defense. And he's not big into the woke movement.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, we know. Rumor is he often drinks until he can't stay, awoke, then awoke up. And then for reasons that escape me, he talked about bringing back America's shipbuilding industry.

[Donald Trump]

I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in.

[Stephen Colbert]

The White House that checks out. I have seen your cabinet. There are pieces of ship all over the White House these days. And.

[Comedian 1]

And we will build these ships and put them in enormous bottles and the bottles will go on the White House mantle and we will tell the children, this is art, not toys. Do not touch.

[Stephen Colbert]

At last, Trump got to his wrap up.

[Donald Trump]

Because we are a country of doers, dreamers, fighters and survivors.

[Comedian 1]

We are pickers, we are grinners, we are lovers and we are sinners. We're joker smokers and occasionally midnight tokers. Looking at you, Elon. Elon, I'm looking at you. Take a. You too, Hegseth. Wake up. Somebody wake up, Hegseth.

[Stephen Colbert]

So there you go. Another two hours we'll never get back. I would like to apologize to our audience for making them watch it. That's time you all could have spent with your family not eating eggs. In the end, Trump's first address to Congress was much like his first six weeks, filled with useful lies and applauded by useless idiots. We got a great live show for you tonight. Coming up, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, my friends. Oh, my friends. My guest tonight is the former trans Secretary of the United States. Please welcome back to the Late show, Pete Buttigieg good to see you again.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Good to be back.

[Stephen Colbert]

I always enjoy talking to you, but I'm particularly grateful for you to be here tonight because I know you haven't done an interview since the inauguration.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah, not like this. That's true.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, well, let's start. Let's just start here. Secretary Buttigieg, at no point did the president tonight say, you know, the state of our Union is. In your opinion, what is the state of our Union?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Complicated.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, thanks for stopping by. Thank you so much. Yes. How six weeks in, what has complicated it?

[Pete Buttigieg]

I mean, look, the state of the Union is roiling, right? We've got divisions that we didn't think could get any worse, that have been picked at and punched at again and again by the president, whose job is to unite the American people, who's supposed to be a walking simple of what Americans have in common. And instead, of course, we have something else. The State of the Union, I think, is really confused about why our leaders are talking about renaming things on a map. Instead of getting the price of eggs down, the State of Union is wondering whether we can get get through another four years of being turned against each other by our own leaders or whether we can be summoned into something better.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, what was your reaction to tonight's speech? That's the first six weeks and where we are right now. How about how he summed up the state of our nation and what his plans are?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Look, it was classic Trump, right? It was a lot of darkness and it was a lot of dazzle, but there was very, very little about the things that most affect our lives. I believe politics is about everyday life. It's about what government can and must do to make our everyday lives better. And the biggest issue on people's minds, the affordability of everyday life, is not something that got more than a few seconds of mention in his speech, nor did he mention some of the biggest things in dollar terms that he's doing. I mean, objectively, the biggest thing that he's working on is tax cuts for the rich, $5 trillion minimum. No mention in a speech that was what, two hours? I think the longest of its kind ever, right? Yeah, but it's always like this, right? It's always going to be about they're going to talk about Greenland and about pronouns and about mice and not about what's going to actually make our lives better.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, going into this poll showed that, you know, about 85, somewhere in the mid-80s, people wanted him mostly to address issues of the economy and inflation and that somewhere in the high 20s, low 30s, believed he had done anything to address those things so far. So, you know, what are the consequences of a president who promises that but doesn't seem to have any plan?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Well, I think disaffection, mistrust, and I think he's going to continue to slide in terms of popularity. Look, there's a good chunk of people who voted for him even though they didn't like him because they thought maybe he was going to make them better off. Let's remember, despite what you heard tonight, he came in with just under 50% of the vote. He won. I'm not disputing that. But the smallest popular vote margin since Nixon. I wonder how he feels about something that important being that small in his case. And he has lost support from there, and he will continue to if he's not addressing our problems.

[Comedian 1]

Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

To be smaller than Tricky Dick is gives one pause. I would say, okay, today Trump imposed broad tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. It set off a chain of retaliations, or as Trump called it, a little disturbance. How will these tariffs affect the average American?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Look, by the end of this week, maybe as early as tomorrow, definitely by the end of this week, you're going to go to the store and you're going to find some things are more expensive because you're paying this tax. And let's be clear, that's what a tariff is. It's a tax. Now, when you look at your receipt, there's not going to be a line on there that says Trump tax, even though that's what it is. But what you're going to notice is the prices on a lot of things. Again, the whole reason a whole bunch of people voted for him was that he ran around talking a good game about how he was going to lower prices. There was dissatisfaction that all of the work the last administration did to lower prices didn't kick in fast enough. He's increasing prices on purpose. On purpose.

[Stephen Colbert]

What possible reason can you imagine that is?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Because it's part of this worldview that's basically telling everybody we're going to get you a bigger slice of a smaller pie. But he doesn't really care whether that comes true. Remember, for him, it really is a little disturbance. If eggs are 10 bucks and you're a billionaire, that's a little disturbance for you, but not for most people.

[Stephen Colbert]

The international. Tell you what, let's pause it right there. I'm being told we have to go to commercial. We are live. We'll be right back with more Pete Buttigieg. Everybody stick around.

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[Stephen Colbert]

Will that be cash or credit? Credit.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Pete Buttigieg]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Max one offer per account. Okay Secretary, let's move on to foreign policy. We talked about tariffs right before the break. That's a form of foreign policy, economic foreign policy. What's the state of America's foreign policy.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Six weeks in, upside down? I mean, look, everybody knows this is not an abstract academic theory. Like one of the basic ideas of foreign policy is you fight your enemies and you help your friend. Canada is our friend, Russia is our adversary, and he's got us fighting Canada and helping Russia. It's upside down.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, let's talk about the meeting on Friday in the Oval Office when they met with Vance and Trump met with Zelensky. It didn't go great. And now Trump has suspended all military aid to Ukraine. What was going through your mind when you were watching that?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Well, I was thinking about when I had the opportunity to sit down with Zelensky when I traveled to Ukraine as secretary to talk about some of the ways that U.S. assistance could make a difference in helping them reestablish supply chains and work toward getting civil aviation back. All the things they need to have a thriving economy. And he was so focused and also so appreciative of the relationship between the US And Ukraine. And the thing that I saw when I was there was that these folks are fighting for themselves. They're fighting for their lives, they're fighting for their democracy, but also in a certain way, they're fighting for us. They're fighting for any freedom loving people, which is why we're there for them. That's why it's wrong to sell them out.

[Stephen Colbert]

Some people. Listen, I don't engage in international diplomacy. Some people have said that Zelensky did not handle that well, that he should have not risen to the bait. Even Lindsey Graham said to him ahead of time, don't rise to the bait. Which, of course, implies that Lindsay knew that there was going to be bait.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah, I agree.

[Stephen Colbert]

Should Zelensky have done something different in that moment?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Look, it definitely looked to a lot of us like a setup. And if you think about it, like many things in this administration that are totally shocking and totally unsurprising, all they did was kind of act out what we've all been expecting, which is a plan on the part of President Trump to sell out Ukraine to Russia. What form it takes, what theater goes around it, I think is secondary to the policy. And clearly, this is his policy.

[Stephen Colbert]

It seemed like if you kind of strip it down to what they were saying, it really seemed like they were there as advocates for Vladimir Putin.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah, I mean, there's some line about how Putin had to suffer through the whole thing where we noticed that he was messing with our elections. Right. That. That was really a moment of just really victimizing Vladimir Putin. It was weird, weird stuff.

[Stephen Colbert]

It's like he and like Trump and Putin had bonded in some.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Look, I mean, obviously there is an affection and an admiration that he has for autocrats around the world, including Putin, who is a ruthless, murderous dictator.

[Stephen Colbert]

He didn't. He had an opportunity tonight to explain to America why we flipped our allegiances in six weeks. He didn't do so.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And if you can't explain why you're doing something that drastic, if that remains a secret, I think it's reasonable to imagine that that's nefarious.

[Pete Buttigieg]

I mean, it's not good. And it's. Yeah. It's not the same or not good.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nefarious. Not good.

[Comedian 1]

No, but it's.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah, look, the same reason he didn't explain, you know, why he's gonna have trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich and go after Medicaid at the same time. A whole bunch of what they're doing is inexcable, not just for the president, but for the members of Congress. And I'm especially thinking about Republicans who clearly know better. Don't get me wrong, some of them maybe don't, but a lot of them do. And the fact that you had a senator from Kansas walk out on his own town hall after about half an hour, the fact that the word has gone out from The Republican Congressional Committee don't do town halls anymore. Tells you that they know that they cannot stand and face their constituents and explain any of this.

[Stephen Colbert]

You were the mayor of a small town. You understand. You understand how to manage, you know, government, government employees. Musk is in there with, you know, a metaphorical and literal chainsaw cutting people out of the federal government at random, apparently. And basically, you know, let God sort him out. What. What does it mean? What is it like to see the federal government being dismantled like this? To someone who understands the value of.

[Pete Buttigieg]

The federal workforce, yeah, the randomness is the real problem here. Look, I would be the first to say I feel even more strongly after my time in Washington that there are things in the government that need to be shaken up, that need to be changed. We worked a lot on that when I was there. Same thing when I was mayor of South Bend. We took whole departments and took them apart and put them back together. And actually, some people had to be let go as part of that process, but it was a careful process to make sure we could serve people better. This is not that. I mean, you're talking about the faa. They still have refused to explain which positions they cut and why. It's not like they looked through the employees and said, these are the poor performers. They've got to go. It's not like they looked through the jobs and said, these are the least important jobs. They've got to go. They fired thousands of people across the government just because they can. And sometimes they did it by accident. The people in charge of nuclear weapons who then they scrambled to hire back the people in charge of making sure we don't have bird flu. Right. This is really important stuff.

[Stephen Colbert]

We gotta go to commercial here. Before I go, you were Secretary of Transportation back when you were Transportation Secretary. Did the planes land this way or upside down? I was just think about it when we're going. Okay. We'll be right back with more Pete Buttigieg. It is our honor tonight to be joined by former Secretary Pete Buttigieg. All right, let's get straight to the heat of meat here. My Instagram timeline is filled up with Europeans giving us 90 second videos that are saying polite variations on America. I am so sorry you have to go through this, but trust us, we've been through this a lot. This is what autocracy looks like. And it is so much better to fight it now than six months from now and almost impossible to fight six years from now.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

What do you see? I mean, for instance, Trump put this out the Other day, he said all federal funding will stop for any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests. I'm sorry, this is America. What the hell is an illegal protest?

[Pete Buttigieg]

That's just it. I mean, we have to stand up to this. And by the we, I don't just mean Democrats, like freedom loving conservatives, libertarians. Where are you? We might not agree on everything, but if you are so committed to liberty as a libertarian or a freedom loving conservative that you think the Clean Air act is tyranny, then what do you have to say about the head of your government threatening to expel or imprison people who protest in disagreement with his politics? Where are you? We should be able to come together around.

[Stephen Colbert]

The Trump administration has curtailed protections and human rights, especially for the LGBTQ community. He bragged about it tonight.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yep.

[Stephen Colbert]

What does that say about where our country is headed morally? Where is the soul of our nation headed?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Look, our nation has always been at its best when it widens the circle of belonging and equality to take care of more people and not less. And our nation's been at its worst when we've been discriminated.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you have any sense, do you have any fear that this Supreme Court would overturn Obergefeld?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

And the right.

[Pete Buttigieg]

Yeah. I mean, they certainly don't seem terribly concerned about allowing precedents to stand, even recent precedents. So, you know, how can we not be worried about that?

[Stephen Colbert]

How does the Democratic Party meet this moment?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Well, we gotta focus. One of many. One of the things I thought was brilliant about Senator Alyssa Slotkin. My senator's response tonight was that she had a to do list. Don't tune out. Which means resisting. I get the temptation to tune out, but you can't do it. You gotta be engaged. Doesn't mean being online every minute, but you gotta be engaged. You gotta hold elected officials accountable, like what's going on at these town halls, and you gotta organize. That was her to do list. And that's right. That's what we have to do tactically. And what we have to do substantively is hold fast to the values that make us Democrats, that aren't only progressive values, but things every American cares about. I campaigned on freedom, security, and democracy back when I was running for president. And I still believe that is the core that should drive our message. And we need to take that message everywhere. It's not just what we say. It's not just how we say it. It's where we say it.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I don't. Look, let's talk about where you could say it. You have recently moved to Michigan, and there is. There's going to be an open Senate seat in 2026. Is there anything you'd like to tell us?

[Pete Buttigieg]

Not tonight. I've been looking at it. Look, I've decided that I'm going to continue to work on the things that I care about to defend the values that I was just talking about. I have not decided what that means professionally, whether that means running for office soon or not, but I will make myself useful.

[Stephen Colbert]

Mm. I hope so. What's life been like since you left the Biden administration?

[Pete Buttigieg]

You know, it's been a challenging time for our country. But also one of the things I find just going through life, going shopping and going to Target and taking the kids to school. I dropped off our kids this morning. Well, I dropped off our daughter. Our son's homesick with that cough that's been going around our preschool. But just, I don't know. One of the things you realize is that the blessings of middle class peacetime life in America are pretty great. And so I've been making the most of that even as I'm watching what's going on in our country and determined to do something about it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, Secretary, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Jeff Probst]

Survivor 48 is here, and alongside it, we're bringing you a brand new season of On Fire, the only official Survivor podcast. If you're a Survivor super fan, you won't want to miss this deep dive into every episode where we break down how we design the game, the biggest moves, your burning questions, questions. It's the only podcast that gives you inside access to Survivor that nobody else can listen to. On Fire, the official Survivor podcast with me, Jeff Probst, every Wednesday after the show. Wherever you get your podcast.