Buttigieg returns to Iowa for veterans’ town hall amid talk of another White House bid
By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press CEDAR RAPIDS Iowa AP Pete Buttigieg returns to Iowa on Tuesday for an event focused on veterans six years after he burst onto the national political stage with a strong run ahead of the state s leadoff presidential caucuses Buttigieg a former intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves who served in Afghanistan will headline a town hall in Cedar Rapids sponsored by the Democratic political organization VoteVets which is focusing on President Donald Trump s cuts to federal agencies and how they affect veterans and military families While the -year-old former transportation secretary has not validated he will make a second White House run he has tangled with Trump online and has spoken out about changes he wants to see in the Democratic Party Related Articles Farmers weigh Trump s agreement war like they watch the weather waiting to see how things go Trump says he will ease sanctions on Syria moves to restore relations with new leader FDA and RFK Jr aim to remove fluoride supplements used to protect kids teeth Harvard loses another million in grants in escalating battle with Trump administration Nodule exposed in former President Joe Biden s prostate during routine physical exam Opposition to the Republican president has to trip with a clearer picture of what we are truly for Buttigieg explained during a new interview with former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC That requirements to be as clear a picture as our response to the authoritarian tendencies of this administration he revealed We would not be in this situation if the executive the financial sector and the politics of our country were healthy They ve been unhealthy for a long time Buttigieg finished atop the Iowa Democratic Party s tallies in the glitch-plagued caucuses alongside Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders though The Associated Press did not call a winner given remaining concerns about whether the results as published by the party are fully accurate Buttigieg a former South Bend Indiana mayor who moved with his husband and twins to Michigan turned down runs for his adoptive state s open U S Senate and governor s races His aides insist his progress to Iowa is intended to meet people and hear their concerns not just as an exercise to set up a presidential bid Still a number of other anticipated contenders are traveling the country in the early days of the second Trump administration Sanders and New York Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez s newest joint rallies have drawn large crowds around the country including in Republican-led Western states Illinois Gov JB Pritzker just now called for mass mobilization of Democrats at a speech in New Hampshire and Govs Wes Moore of Maryland and Tim Walz of Minnesota plan stops in South Carolina at the end of May
