New Beard, Same Buttigieg

I wish I could locate the Twitter wit who said, during the Biden administration, that “Pete Buttigieg is so bad at being Secretary of Transportation that people actually know the name of the Secretary of Transportation.”

That line stuck with me — because it’s true. And yet, here he is again, back on the virtual campaign trail with a town hall-style appearance for Vote Vets in Iowa. 

Nothing seems to stand in the way of the unaccomplished former Indiana mayor taking another stab at his party’s presidential nomination — and he’s so serious about rebranding himself that he’s even grown a beard.

The beard jokes write themselves, but I’m not here to take cheap shots at Buttigieg; I’m here to take high-class, data-rich cheap shots.

Join me, won’t you?

Buttigieg’s first stab at reinvention was dropping the all-too-personal pronouns from his social media bios. Then, as Christopher Rufo put it, he “abandoned ship” on DEI nonsense, “admitting that it often amounts to ‘making people sit through a training that looks like something out of Portlandia.'”

Now, there’s the beard, presumably modeled on that dreamy J.D. Vance, but far less convincing. 

What are your thoughts on Pete Buttigieg’s beard? pic.twitter.com/YX1a5NuANc

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 14, 2025

Buttigieg even joined the Knives Out Club of Democrats and infotainment spokesmodels like Jake Tapper who (quite suddenly) feel it’s safe to present a (semi-) honest assessment of Joe Biden.

When asked at Vote Vets yesterday whether Joe Biden had hurt the Democrats last year, Buttigieg said, “Right now, with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that’s the case.”

Only Democrats and their media enablers required hindsight to see what was right in front of our eyes for four years. But that’s a column I’ve written more times since 2020 than I could count — even with the help of ChatGPT, Albert Einstein, and that Count guy from Sesame Street.

But Buttigieg immediately flipped the script to 2026 — and presumably beyond. “We’re also not in a position to wallow in hindsight. We’ve got to get ready for some fundamental tests of the future of this country and this party, some of which are going on this very year, and many which will come next year.”

That Buttigieg can’t seem to stay away from Iowa — traditional home to the country’s first-in-the-nation caucuses — is surely just a coincidence.

It seems like only last month [it was only last month, Steve —Editor] I was recommending primal scream therapy over talking about 2028 already, but today’s column isn’t really about 2028. It’s about how little things like achievement or even basic competence no longer matter when Democrats throw their hat into the presidential ring — and primary voters hardly seem to mind.

If you look at Buttigieg’s record as the mayor of South Bend, you’ll find a history of uninspired leadership, neglect of “marginalized” neighborhoods, and, worst of all, ginning up racial tension for political gain. That last point refers to Buttigieg’s shameful handling of the Eric Logan shooting.

He’s so beloved in Indiana that he now plies his political wares in Michigan instead. It says something about Buttigieg’s performance as a medium-sized city mayor when he has to find a whole new state. His time at Transportation was spent railing against racist infrastructure instead of getting any built.

Buttigieg’s new beard can’t cover up a couple of inconvenient facts: he’s both radical and unaccomplished.

And somehow, despite all that, people still know the name of the Secretary of Transportation.

Recommended: Just When You Thought Biden’s Health Cover-Up Couldn’t Get Any Worse…

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