Former Transportation Secretary and potential 2028 candidate Pete Buttigieg drew criticism from a former RNC chairman when he appeared to sidestep opportunities to disavow the rise of socialism in the Democratic Party and instead called himself a "Buttigieg Democrat."Speaking on "America Reports" Friday, Buttigieg declined to directly address questions about Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) policies, such as abolishing the Senate and ending deportations, instead criticizing President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and economic record."Look, there's always going to be some people in my party who go too far for me, people I disagree with.If you pick the five or 10 or 15 furthest-left people in our party, they're going to, by definition, disagree with a lot of others.
But there's so much that we do, in fact, agree on," Buttigieg said.DEM REP HENRY CUELLAR REJECTS DSA AGENDA, SAYS SOCIALISTS ARE TRYING TO 'USE' DEMOCRATIC PARTYFormer Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a campaign event for Denise Powell, the Democratic candidate for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, at Metro Community College's Center for Advanced Manufacturing on July 14, 2026, in Omaha, Neb.(Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via Getty Images)"I think one of the reasons why you see people who run on a promise of shaking it up, whether it's a DSA candidate on the left or whether it’s someone like Donald Trump, is because people can tell that the system we have is not just showing its age — it's letting us down," he added.A University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll published Wednesday places Buttigieg neck-and-neck with Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in a potential 2028 match-up.Earlier in July, Ocasio-Cortez responded to concerns about DSA proposals, including abolishing the Senate, calling it a "constitutional question" and noting, "we've all got our complaints."When pressed on where he falls on the Democratic spectrum, Buttigieg said he doesn’t fit tr...