Buttigieg Has His 'Please Clap' Moment

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a campaign rally in Muscatine, Iowa, U.S., January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
January 22, 2020 Topic: Politics Region: Americas Blog Brand: The Buzz Tags: Pete ButtigiegJeb Bush2020 Election2016 ElectionIowa

Buttigieg Has His 'Please Clap' Moment

Right before Iowa.

 

Democratic 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg had to instruct audience members to clap for him in an awkward moment on the campaign trail Tuesday.

Buttigieg asked audience members at an Iowa campaign event if he “can look to you to spread that sense of hope to those that you know?” The room went silent as the audience neither clapped nor applauded in response to Buttigieg’s question.

 

“Come on!” Buttigieg said, motioning with his arms for the audience to cheer.

The awkward moment immediately drew comparisons online to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s much-mocked “please clap” gaffe during the 2016 Republican primary.

Bush’s plea to his audience ended up becoming one of the defining moments of his doomed 2016 campaign. A splice-up of Buttigieg and Bush asking their audiences to clap showed the similarities between the two moments.

Buttigieg is currently running fourth in the RealClearPolitics average of Iowa primary polls.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are all polling ahead of Buttigieg in Iowa, according to the RCP average.

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Image: Reuters.