Buttigieg offers mild critique of Liz Warren — and progressives are infuriated with him

Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg offered a mild critique of his competitor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), but he was greeted with abject outrage from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was asked about Warren's pledge to fund her campaign only through small donations in order to prevent outsized influence by wealthy megadonors.

"My competitors can go with whatever strategy they like, but we're going to make sure that we have the resources to compete because we are going up against the sitting president of the United States," Buttigieg said in response.

"He has tremendous amounts of support and allies at his back, and we're not going to beat him with pocket change. I'm proud of the fact that we have more than half a million individuals who've supported my campaign. Some of it's chipping in three bucks; some of it's a lot more," he continued.

"I think you need the full spectrum of support in order to compete," he concluded, "especially if we want to go against someone like Donald Trump."

When progressives attack...

Democrats on the progressive wing of the party did not take too kindly to Buttigieg's comments.

"It's sad to see the potential self destruction of @PeteButtigieg, a rising star," responded Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green.

"Tues will be a key trajectory moment. Does he attack the next President Of The United States or take the high road & make positive waves by adding his unique voice to progressive issues of the day?" he added.

"This is legit insulting to the millions of folks who are participating in the process and giving what they can. And — it should be noted — small dollar donors powered the two candidates who out raised Pete last quarter," responded progressive activist Rebecca Katz.

Buttigieg is a long-shot candidate for the Democratic nomination, but Warren has seen a surge in polling that has put her in second place and in some states, even first place.

Here's more on the Democratic primary:

See where 2020 Democrats stand ahead of tomorrow's 4th democratic primary debatewww.youtube.com

[H/T: The Hill]