Buttigieg: ‘We’re screwed’ if Democrats don’t get majorities in Congress in 2020

CONCORD, N.H. — Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg warned Saturday that Democrats would be “screwed” if they don’t win majorities in Congress come November.

“If we can’t change Congress, we’re screwed,” Buttigieg said at the Our Rights, Our Courts presidential forum.

“This is our only chance to defeat Donald Trump, but we’ve also got to do it with a big enough margin that it sends Trumpism into the history books,” he continued. “Part of that means making sure that his enablers in Congress are rejected too.”

The former South Bend, Ind., mayor went on to reference President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, slamming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) handling of it.

“It was a discouraging, dispiriting, exhausting experience to watch what happened in Mitch McConnell’s Senate when it came to this trial, this show trial,” he said. “The good news is it’s 2020, and we’re voters, and if the Senate was the jury this week, we the people are the jury now, and we get the final verdict.”

Buttigieg’s comments came after the Republican majority in the Senate voted to acquit Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction on Congress.

The former mayor and other Democratic candidates have said they were in favor of impeachment but have been cautious to speak about it on the campaign trail. 

Buttigieg noted last month on the campaign trail that it was tiring to watch the impeachment saga in Congress.

“If you are watching the news right now, if you’re watching what I’m watching right now and feeling exhausted — I know I am. I live and breathe politics, and I feel exhausted,” he said.