Buttigieg’s second debate performance included views on health care, gun violence

DETROIT—South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg took the national stage during the second round of Democratic debates on Tuesday night.

Buttigieg went head-to-head with top contenders like senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

A big question floating around Michiana, and even the rest of the country, is did Buttigieg do enough to outshine the competition?

Standout moments from Buttigieg's performance on the debate stage include his mention of gun violence being the worst part about his role as Mayor of South Bend.

Buttigieg also used the debate stage to re-assert some of his stances on hot-button topics like health care and immigration reform.

“It is time to stop worrying about what the Republicans will say. If it's true that if we embrace a far-left agenda, they're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they're gonna do? They're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. So let's just stand up for the right policy, go out there and defend it,” Buttigieg said when asked about health care.

The South Bend Mayor's response gave way to a little bit of a break-out moment on stage in the Motor City, when he said it’s time to stand up for the right healthcare policies and stop worrying about the GOP.

Buttigieg did not back down from the topic of immigration, instead, he said it’s a crisis that needs not be addressed with cruelty.

In the wake of the recent mass shooting at a food festival in Gilroy, California, Buttigieg says lawmakers need to act now.

“80-90% of Republicans want universal background checks. Not to mention the common sense solutions like red flag laws that disarm domestic abusers and flag mental health risks and an end to assault weapons things like what I carried overseas in uniform that have no business in American neighborhoods in peacetime let alone anywhere near a school,” Buttigieg said.

The mayor was not directly asked about the ongoing racial tensions in South Bend, as he was during the first debate, but he did address it onstage.

"Right now in the wake of a police involved shooting, our community is moving from hurting to healing by making sure that the community can participate in things like revising the use of force policy, and making sure there are community voices on the board of safety that handles police matters. I proposed a 'Douglass Plan' to tackle this nationally because mayors have hit the limits of what you can do unless there's national action,” Buttigieg said.