Conservative radio talk-show host Chandelle Summer told MSNBC on Sunday that “voters will flock in droves to Donald Trump as a candidate” because they will find Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy “so unusual and frightening.”
Buttigieg, 37, announced his candidacy on Sunday in South Bend, Ind., where the Afghanistan War veteran serves as mayor. He has been climbing in recent polls, finishing behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who is expected to declare his candidacy this month, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“He will be the first Maltese-American and Episcopalian gay, millennial war veteran ever to have reached for the presidency,” Summer said during live coverage of Buttigieg’s announcement on Sunday afternoon. “He is so far from the norm when it comes to political candidates that I think that voters will flock in droves to Donald Trump as a candidate just because they will find this so unusual and frightening.”{mosads}
After some cross-talk, Danielle Moodie-Mills, host of “WokeAF” on SiriusXM Progress, argued that will only help his chances in earning the nomination.
“Sounds like a lot of really interesting things that make up a part of the American fabric, a war veteran, somebody who’s Christian, somebody who lives in Middle America, can speak to Middle America, young, a millennial,” Moodie-Mills said in response. “I don’t see how that’s terrifying.”
“I don’t think it’s personally terrifying,” Summer clarified. “I think that the American public will find it so abhorrent and different from the usual candidates and won’t be able to wrap their heads around it. The age is a huge problem. I mean, he is 37 years old. I can remember when I was 37 years old and my thought process, the way I analyze things is different than now and you need experience in life to be a good leader and to understand all the different dynamics of the economy, the world, the global situation, national security.”
“I just don’t think voters will trust someone that young and I don’t think the fact that he’s gay is a big problem personally,” Summer concluded. “I feel like we have crossed that bridge in this country.”
Buttigieg’s entrance into the race brings the Democrats’ total number of candidates to 19.
The Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar called to eliminate the Electoral College as part of his 2020 campaign launch.
“We can’t say it’s much of a democracy when twice in my lifetime the Electoral College has overruled the American people,” he said at his 2020 launch rally.
“Why should our vote in Indiana only count once or twice in a century? Or your vote in Wyoming or New York?” Buttigieg added.
An Emerson College survey found Sanders leading with 29 percent to Biden’s 24 percent, followed by Buttigieg at 9 percent.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) are tied for fourth place at 8 percent in the poll.