Buttigieg, 37, framed his candidacy around his background as someone who was born and served as the mayor of a mid-sized Midwestern town that went through an economic and technological renaissance. He contrasted that with President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again message and his promises to bring back old business to the region.
“I ran for mayor in 2011 knowing that nothing like Studebaker would ever come back — but believing that we would, our city would, if we had the courage to reimagine our future. And now, I can confidently say that South Bend is back. More people are moving into South Bend than we’ve seen in a generation.
“Thousands of new jobs have been added in our area, and billions in investment. There’s a long way for us to go. Life here is far from perfect. But we’ve changed our trajectory, and shown a path forward for communities like ours. And that’s why I’m here today. To tell a different story than “Make America Great Again. Because there is a myth being sold to industrial and rural communities: the myth that we can stop the clock and turn it back.”
