pete buttigieg kobe bryant

Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC-BY)

Pete Buttigieg ripped for basketball ‘field’ tribute to Kobe Bryant

It's a court.

 

David Covucci

Streaming

Posted on Jan 27, 2020   Updated on May 19, 2021, 4:54 pm CDT

Yesterday, as news of Kobe Bryant’s unexpected death came out, politicians tweeted heartfelt condolences over the loss. President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) all shared warm words about Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash.

And at a town hall last night with Fox News, 2020 Democratic hopeful Pete Buttigieg shared his thoughts about Bryant’s legacy and life.

“It’s shocking and we’re still all in shock,” he said. “I think it’s a reminder that our lives are often touched by people we never even meet. And there are millions of people … mourning, because they were inspired by what he did on the field, what he meant off the field.”

Bryant, who played on a basketball court, did not play a sport that involved fields.

Which wouldn’t be all that big a deal, a simple slip of the tongue at a live event, but it can’t be viewed without the context of both Buttigieg’s struggle with race in his own city and his inability to court any Black voters. Botching the context of the death of an extremely popular Black athlete speaks to those criticisms.

And for that, he was panned.

https://twitter.com/ebruenig/status/1221604419462225920

As many noted, Buttigieg is from Indiana, where basketball is immensely popular.

The Buttigieg campaign sent an email Monday morning titled “What People Are Saying About Pete Buttigieg’s Standout Fox News Town Hall.” It did not mention the Bryant quote.

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*First Published: Jan 27, 2020, 9:13 am CST