Pete Buttigieg Doesn't Like That Donald Trump Dreams About Him

"I don't know what goes on in this president's dreams, but I'm sure I want absolutely nothing to do with them," Buttigieg said in response to a comment Trump made this week.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

December 13 2019 9:07 AM EST

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Donald Trump said this week that he dreams about out Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg -- and Buttigieg finds that pretty unsettling.

"I mean, you have Alfred E. Neuman who's running, who's like this guy?" Trump said at a campaign rally in Hershey, Pa., Tuesday night. Neuman is the big-eared, grinning, goofy-looking mascot of Mad magazine. "This guy Buttigieg, Boot-edge-edge. Can you believe he's doing well? He's like the leading fundraiser. I dream about him! It's true. No, Boot-edge-edge!"

Buttigieg, currently the mayor of South Bend, Ind., responded to Trump's sophomoric comments in a live-streamed Friday interview with The Washington Post's Bob Costa. "I will admit it did bother me when he says he dreams about me," Buttigieg said. "I don't know what goes on in this president's dreams, but I'm sure I want absolutely nothing to do with them."

Trump had said in April that he'd like running against Buttigieg in 2020, but sources told The Daily Beast this week that they don't expect the mayor to be the Democratic nominee, even though he's polling well. "We're not game-planning for Pete," someone identified only as a "Trumpworld source" told the publication. "I don't think anyone is."

Another source, identified as a senior official with Trump's reelection campaign, told the Beast, "There are few who scare us less than Mayor Pete. ... [Andrew] Yang scares us more than Mayor Pete."