Sadiq Khan suggests Pete Buttigieg could beat Donald Trump in a presidential election
Pete Buttigieg (Scott Olson/Getty) and Sadiq Khan (Tim P. Whitby/Tim P. Whitby/Getty)
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that Democrats need to pick a candidate “who can beat Trump” in the presidential election, and said Pete Buttigieg and Mike Bloomberg are “interesting”.
In an interview with Politico, Khan suggested that other candidates such as Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders would not garner enough support to beat Trump.
“The key thing for the Democrats is to pick someone who can beat Trump… I think Mike Bloomberg is interesting. He clearly gets under Trump’s skin,” Khan said.
Sadiq Khan: Pete Buttigieg is ‘interesting’.
“If it’s Bloomberg vs Trump it will be a really interesting campaign; two New Yorkers. One of whom is a successful self-made billionaire. The other one less successful, lost his dad’s money, doing less well.”
He added: “I think Buttigieg is interesting. I’d query whether Sanders or Warren or Biden would do as well. But let’s wait and see.”
Pete Buttigieg is the only openly gay candidate currently in the race to become the next president of the United States.
I think Buttigieg is interesting. I’d query whether Sanders or Warren or Biden would do as well. But let’s wait and see.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana was initially seen as an underdog in the Democratic contest due to his youth and inexperience working at the top-tier of politics, but has since come out on top as one of the best performing candidates.
Buttigieg has surpassed expectations and has performed well in the Democratic primaries so far.
Buttigieg surprised many within his party when he came out on top in the still-disputed Iowa caucus, which was plagued by technical issues resulting from a new app-based counting system. He was later beaten by Sanders in the New Hampshire primary – but only by a tiny margin, and finished in second place.
However, the gay candidate performed less well in the Nevada caucus where Sanders took a commanding lead. Former vice-president Joe Biden came in second place, with Buttigieg finishing in third.
Buttigieg has become a polarising figure within the LGBT+ community since announcing his intention to seek the Democratic nomination last year. He has been criticised for his centrist policies by some, while others have lauded seeing an openly gay candidate gaining traction for the highest office in the United States.
