President Donald Trump has caused widespread chaos by working quickly to dismantle federal agencies, terminate thousands of their workers and freeze billions of dollars in government grants to various work groups. But gay former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg succinctly explained how Democrats can present a winning message to counter Trump’s actions.
During a recent talk at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, Buttigieg explained that the Democratic party “cares about institutions” that keep the nation running, but warned that party messengers should avoid framing themselves as supporters of the status quo.
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“There are things about the status quo and transportation policy that drove me nuts in the entire four years that I was transportation secretary. And there are many of those things we’re able to change. There are many more of those things we weren’t able to change,” he explained.
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“What we’ve got to do now is make clear that we too demand and expect government to work differently and better than it has, but that burning it to the ground isn’t going to do that for anybody,” he continued.
“I think the challenge for a party that cares about institutions is to make clear our message, especially now when people can’t tell if we have a proactive message or just an opposition message,” he added.
“We do have a proactive message,” he said, before uttering his 16-word solution: “It’s about making sure government works for people and serves us well and enhances our freedom.”
“But that’s not the same thing as being content with the status quo,” he clarified.
He then criticized the Trump administration for its recent bungled firing of nuclear safety workers.
“Randomly firing people who oversee our nuclear weapons by mistake, and then bringing up and unfiring them. That is not what we mean when we say that certain parts of government may very well need to be taken apart and put back together.”
Democrats must make clear that, of course, we believe in changing government for the better – and show how different that is from Trump's destruction of government's capacity to protect workers, consumers, and families. pic.twitter.com/qIVkMIWVgO
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) February 19, 2025
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