Pete Buttigieg abandons previous support for DEI, compares diversity programs to 'Portlandia'

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reversed course on his previous support of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and even mocked diversity training seminars.

Buttigieg made the comments during a forum called "The Future of the Democratic Party" with moderator David Axelrod, who had criticized the "spectacle" of the election for the DNC chair.

'If we were more serious about the actual values and not caught up in vocabularies and trying to cater to everybody ...'

"What do we mean when we talk about diversity? Is it caring for people’s different experiences and making sure no one is mistreated because of them, which I will always fight for?" asked Buttigieg.

"Or is it making people sit through a training that looks like something out of ‘Portlandia,’ which I have also experienced," he added.

Buttigieg was offering the DEI criticism as a way of showing how Democrats had failed to garner the support of people who may agree with their policies for the most part but dissent on minor issues.

"If that comes to your workplace with the best of intentions but doesn’t actually get at what we’re doing, what actually matters here, what’s actually at stake," he continued.

"I think — and this might sound counterintuitive — if we were more serious about the actual values and not caught up in vocabularies and trying to cater to everybody only in terms of their particular slice of combinations of identities versus the shared project," he added.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb agreed and added that it was a big problem with men and with white men, in particular.

"We, as a party, we have to do a better job at meeting people where they are and embracing the lived experience of people. Unfortunately, I think we’ve gotten too soft as a party," the Democratic mayor said.

The curious turnabout sparked speculation that the former presidential candidate was gearing up for another political campaign that might need to appeal to a broader audience. Buttigieg has been excoriated by many on the far left because of his previous association with the CIA and for what they see as moderately centrist left-wing policies favored by the establishment.

Buttigieg lashed out at President Donald Trump after he blamed DEI policies for the horrific collision between a helicopter and a passenger plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. A total of 67 people perished in the tragic accident.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!