Buttigieg goes up against front runners at third debate

HOUSTON—The third round of the Democratic primary debates wrapped up on Thursday night in Houston at Texas Southern University.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg faced off against leading Democratic candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who were all together on stage for the first time.

During the last debate in Detroit, Buttigieg got in about 17 minutes of talking time.

In Houston on Thursday, Buttigieg spoke for just over 11 minutes.

The cause of the shift in talking time can likely be attributed to the dynamic of the debate.

By being held on one night instead of two, with only the top ten ranking candidates participating, the South Bend Mayor got a little drowned out.

But Buttigieg still used his time to speak on key issues. He offered this response to a question posed directly to him about systemic racism.

"And we know that the generational theft of the descendants of slaves is part of why everything from housing to education to health to employment basically puts us in two different countries. I have proposed the most comprehensive vision to tackle systemic racism in every one of these areas. Marshaling as many resources as went into the Marshall plan that rebuilt Europe, but this time, a Douglas plan that we invest right here at home. To make sure that we're not only dealing with things like the over incarceration of black Americans, but also black solutions,” Buttigieg said during the debate.