 It's no secret that Pete Buttigieg is struggling to attract black voters and I think that part of this is due to his lack of name recognition nationally, but if you are a black American who's actually aware of his campaign, then what reason do you have to vote for him? Because his outreach to black voters has been abysmal up until this point. He doesn't engage with communities of color. He rarely talks about black issues and on top of that, there's been a number of scandals that really demonstrate his apathy towards black Americans. There's his mishandling of a police officer shooting of a black resident, his firing of South Bend's first black police chief for threatening to release tapes that presumably expose internal racism within South Bend's police department. He also planned a fundraiser with Chicago's former city attorney who was involved in the shooting cover up of Laquan McDonald. Now he did cancel after he was criticized by enough people, but it just goes to show you that this individual is a horrible ally to the black community if you could even view him as an ally altogether, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. And the issue is that rather than him taking responsibility for poor outreach to black voters and not having an actual robust black agenda, the narrative is starting to shift. Rather than the narrative being Pete Buttigieg fails to reach out to black voters, the narrative is becoming black voters fail Pete Buttigieg. And apparently they're not supporting him because maybe they're homophobic. This is the new narrative that is being promoted and as Derek Clifton of Out Magazine explains, the South Bend Indiana Mayor's campaign commissioned three 90 minute focus groups that included a total of 24 likely black voters in Columbia, South Carolina, who at the time hadn't decided on their preferred candidate. The July 21st report, which was obtained by McClatchy DC and released today indicates senior campaign officials were briefed with key findings from Benenson Strategy Group, a political consulting firm. Among the findings from the small focus groups, the report's authors noted that the voters knew little about Buttigieg and only a handful of participants knew who he was at the time. Yet his sexuality, quote, was a barrier for voters who preferred that his sexuality not be front and center while campaigning, while other members of the focus group felt Buttigieg's experience as a gay man may allow him to relate to black American struggles with discrimination. So the narrative after this report was released was that Pete Buttigieg doesn't have the support of black voters because of them, not him. They're the ones with the problem, not him. So first and foremost, this sample size is obviously not enough to denote general applicability. Not only is it factually and statistically incorrect, but this is incredibly destructive and potentially divisive because this is an attempt to pit two marginalized communities against each other, all that the behest of a failing presidential candidate who's garbage, who's not looking out for anyone. Now his campaign insists that this is being misrepresented and that the focus group only focused on his sexuality briefly and other factors were also talked about. But the thing about these types of narratives is that it doesn't really matter. Once a narrative is out there, once the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, it's difficult to put it back in. So now there's this generalization about black voters that they're homophobic. How despicable is that? How disgusting is that? And now it's too late because this focus group has largely revealed that some people in this focus group don't like Pete Buttigieg because of his sexual orientation, some maybe like him more because he can kind of identify with their struggle and discrimination. But once a narrative is out there, it's so hard to undo that. And the issue with this is that the mainstream media is now parroting the same line of attack against black Americans. That maybe they're not supporting Pete Buttigieg because they're homophobic. Now I want to play a video clip from CNN where they essentially talked about this focus group and the results from it and not only do they parrot that harmful narrative that black voters are homophobic, but Michael Smear-Khanesh is going to try to actually legitimize this point that black voters must not be supporting Pete Buttigieg because they're homophobic. This is incredibly destructive. Take a look. Ever since launching his presidential run, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has struggled to gain support among African-American voters. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Buttigieg is polling at about 10 percent. Among black voters, his support drops to four. The reason might be his sexuality according to focus groups conducted by his campaign over the summer among black Democratic voters in South Carolina. The focus groups found that, quote, being gay was a barrier for these voters, particularly for the men who seemed deeply uncomfortable even discussing it. It was not necessarily a red line that they would cross, but their preference is for his sexuality to not be front and center. But among the larger African-American community, 51 percent support same-sex marriage. That's actually the lowest support of any demographic group. Another point many in the focus groups made was that Buttigieg's sexuality could impact his electability. As the report from the focus group states, even though many made it clear that they personally didn't have a problem with the mayor's sexuality, they felt like others would have a problem with it and weaponize it. The one voter from the focus groups said she was considering voting for Buttigieg while all but one said they were considering voting for former Vice President Joe Biden. And this hesitation of black voters in the focus group to support Buttigieg is reflected in his poll numbers in South Carolina. In that early primary state, Buttigieg has 1 percent support among black voters. A key voting block he is sure to need if he hopes to win his party's nomination. Joining me now is the chair of the Democratic Black Caucus of South Carolina, Johnny Cordero, who spoke one-on-one with Buttigieg about running as a gay candidate. Tell us a little bit about that conversation that you had with Mayor Pete. Good morning, Michael. Thank you so much for having me. Hi. Mayor Pete has, we've had, we've had several conversations and one-on-one conversations. We've had him in South Carolina to meet some, with black voters and what has actually happened is he called me for advice and I mean advice about how he was doing in South Carolina and how he could improve his situation. And I said to him very clearly that I don't think that people generally, and I certainly do not have anything against him one way or the other with regard to his sexuality. I think that's frankly a non-issue and let me explain what I mean by that. It's not a secret. Everybody knows that the mayor's sexual preference and more importantly it is clear that he is not ashamed of it in any way nor should anyone be. We love who we love. That's a simple fact. The problem is that he, the significant problem I think is more so that he does not have, does not know in the community. That's really what his problem is. What he needs to do is to get in and talk to people, get behind closed doors and talk to people and answer questions and for them to get to know them. He appears to me to be a man, an honest man, a man of integrity. He's certainly qualified to be president of the United States and I think he should be given every opportunity to do so. But those who complain, go ahead, yes sir. Yeah I was going to say of course he should. Of course he should. That goes without saying. I'm just trying to read the political tea leaves. I mean when his own focus group says being gay was a barrier for these voters especially the men, do you think that's inaccurate? I'm going to say yes that's inaccurate but let me understand, let me explain this. It's inaccurate in the sense that what people would do when they get in the voting booth is something else and I'm saying that African Americans in South Carolina and I believe nationally will stand up for a candidate who is honest and straightforward and authentic and I think that that will dissipate, that will melt, that issue will not become as important. He has other issues that maybe present more difficulty for him but in terms of whether or not African Americans will vote for him, will not vote for him simply because he's gay, I think that's overblown. What Johnny Cordero said there was mostly correct. I don't agree that Pete Buttigieg is qualified but I think that the reasons he cited for Pete Buttigieg's lack of support is largely due to name recognition and you know a lack of voter outreach but what Michael Smirkonnish tried to do is not fight against this narrative, right? He tried to legitimize that narrative. He cited polls about support for same-sex marriage and showed that black voters, they don't support same-sex marriage as much as other minority groups. Now if you look at data and statistics, we can easily debunk this narrative that black voters are homophobic because that's just, that's not true. They're not supporting Pete Buttigieg because Pete Buttigieg is a shit candidate but for the mainstream media outlets to parrot the results of this and generalize about an entire group of people based on the findings from one focus group is absolutely appalling. It's destructive and it's morally reprehensible. Like even if all 24 of these focus group participants said that they explicitly won't support a gay person, that still doesn't mean that the aggregate community of black people are homophobic. So why are we allowing this focus group to be a reason why we generalize against an entire group of people all at the behest of a corporate candidate who has done zero outreach to the black community? Why are we doing that? And look, let's just be clear here. These people are diluting themselves if they think that being gay won't actually be an issue for Pete Buttigieg in the general election because as a gay man myself, I acknowledge that Americans are still very homophobic but that doesn't necessarily mean that he'd lose specifically because he's gay because I think that if the policies were there, Americans would vote for him in spite of any homophobia that may still be lingering and that certainly doesn't mean that black voters aren't supporting him because he's gay or not gay and it's deeply concerning to me that this false narrative is now being parroted by the mainstream media who is supposed to be educating people, who's supposed to be dispelling these types of myths about entire communities of people. I mean I shouldn't have to explain why generalizing about a group of people and saying maybe they're homophobic because they don't support this shitty candidate is harmful. I shouldn't have to explain this. I mean imagine in 2016 because in 2016 Bernie Sanders, he also didn't have the support of black Americans. Let's imagine if Bernie Sanders said, you know what? The reason why I'm not supported is because black voters are anti-semitic. The mainstream media would rightfully call out Bernie Sanders because they'd say, look, that's your own failure. Your inability to appeal to black voters is because of you. Now Bernie Sanders is winning over more black voters because he has higher recognition and guess what? He actually has a black agenda. But Pete Buttigieg on the other hand, since the establishment loves him, since he's their golden boy, the media loves him, well they're actually trying to lend credence to the claim that maybe black voters are homophobic for not supporting Pete Buttigieg. I can't believe that this idea is even being entertained. It's just, it's unbelievable to me. The lengths that pundits in the media will go to to run interference for corporate candidates, it's just, it's mind boggling for me. And look, I want to play a clip from a panel of LGBTQ voters, 12 people who are talking about the Democratic Party primary in 2020 election. They sat down for a vice news panel. And if we're going to say that 24 black voters in one focus group or three focus groups are enough to denote general applicability, then we also have to say that this group of 12 LGBTQIA plus voters also denotes general applicability. And using that same logic that CNN used to imply heavily so that black voters must not support Pete Buttigieg because they're homophobic. We also have to suggest that maybe LGBTQ plus people who also aren't feeling Pete Buttigieg must be homophobic as well. Because when they were asked whether or not they support Pete Buttigieg, well, guess what? They weren't too keen on elitist Pete either. Mayor Pete is gay. He's been on the cover of magazines with his husband. This having somebody who's gay running right now, does that make you want to vote for him? I think you should vote on policy. I get asked that question all the time. It's great to have a gay candidate, be great to be a candidate or a trans candidate. I'm looking at the policy. Everything else is peripheral. I could not care less. I mean, the fact that he is gay doesn't, I think there is such division in the LGBTQ or queer and trans, whatever you call it, community between gay and trans, trans, and cis. That doesn't mean he has my back as a trans person. It doesn't mean that he will have transaffirming policy and support those who are marginalized in the trans community. It means nothing to me that he is a gay person because he's also cis and he's also white, and he's holding all of those identities and experiences at the same time. So I would love to see some firm policy proposals that include trans people and non-binary people. We haven't even talked about that yet, but I haven't seen that yet. I don't know why I'm not more excited about him than I am. There's something missing. I'm surprised that everybody is so anti-Pete. I mean, I think I know a lot of sort of Pete Curious conservatives who think he is gay. Is that like bi-curious? Yeah. That is the most oppressed group in this country. And one of the main reasons is that I think he's very progressive, but he's totally moderate. And I think even just listening to us, I mean, everybody's so angry all the time to have somebody who is somewhat aspirational and who is trying to make a pitch for something better and something more uniting. Why is that so terrible? I think it's nice. So there you have it. LGBTQIA plus voters also don't support Pete Buttigieg. I don't support Pete Buttigieg. My husband doesn't support Pete Buttigieg. I guess we're all homophobic because we don't support Pete Buttigieg. Do you understand why that's problematic? Why we can't use a small sample size of people to generalize about an entire community who is intellectually and ideologically diverse? Do you understand why that's harmful and divisive and potentially destructive? It's just, it's maddening to me that this narrative has any weight behind it at all. It is deeply, deeply offensive to suggest that black voters don't support Pete Buttigieg because they're homophobic. No, that's not what it is. They don't support Pete Buttigieg like most Democratic Party primary voters because he's a shitty candidate who's not looking out for normal Americans. He's looking out for the interests of his donors and the rich people who he keeps meeting in the Hamptons. So if he truly wanted to, you know, win and reach out to black voters, maybe rather than doing all of these fundraisers in the Hamptons, you meet with them in the community and you listen to them, not talk at them, but you listen to them, hear their concerns and respond accordingly with policy. But Pete Buttigieg, he's not doing that. So if Pete Buttigieg is failing to win over black voters, who do we blame? We blame Pete Buttigieg, not the black voters. We don't generalize and suggest that these black voters must be all homophobic because they don't support this garbage candidate.