‘Is This An Interview Or A Debate?’ Pete Buttigieg Lashes Out At Fox’s Brian Kilmeade After Barrage Of Interruptions

Harris campaign surrogate Sec. Pete Buttigieg lashed out at Fox News host Brian Kilmeade as he repeatedly interrupted, asking “Is this an interview or a debate?” to an equally incensed Kilmeade.

Going into Election Day, the dominant storylines are the bombshell Des Moines Register poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Trump in Iowa, and the dizzying sprint of swing state rallies that spit out viral moments at breakneck speed.

Meanwhile, campaign surrogates hit the airwaves in a last-ditch attempt to move the needle, if only microscopically.

On Tuesday’s edition of Fox & Friends, Buttigieg showed up for a contentious exchange with Kilmeade on the related issues of manufacturing jobs and electric vehicles. At one point Buttigieg accused Kilmeade of repeating a “lie” and had to call out the barrage of interruptions from Kilmeade:

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Families. Look, Donald Trump left office with the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover.

BRIAN KILMEADE: That’s because of the pandemic–.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: This administration has created the most jobs of anybody. Well, let’s remember, though, before the pandemic, right? It was before the pandemic that there was a manufacturing recession under Trump right now. More factories are being built in America than at any time since.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Mr. Mayor.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Now, look, the world —

BRIAN KILMEADE: The manufacturing recession is in your head–

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Trump.

BRIAN KILMEADE: It never happened.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: The Trump manufacturing. Okay. Look it up on PolitiFact–.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Let’s do that.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: And then tell you– maybe you can bring it onscreen right now

BRIAN KILMEADE: Mr. Mayor, Michigan matters a lot. That’s why you’re there, right? How much did (CROSSTALK) How much did the EV mandate hurt the Kamala Harris quest to be the next president?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Well, first of all, the statement that there is a TV mandate is a lie. You can buy a gas car right now if you want one. You can buy an EV.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Really? For how long?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: You if you want one and will help make it cheaper as long as you want. Now, our goal with with the tax supports and by the way, you admit. Right. That you can buy a gas car if you want right now, which means by definition there’s no mandate.

BRIAN KILMEADE: But if he has a goal by 2035, California’s gone. By 2035, New York’s gone–

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Don’t have to admit we’re not making you buy this car. Mr. Mayor, you know, now the goal and I’ve got to be careful with it because I can’t get into the administration side. But what I’ll say is the goal has been to be about half and a half by the end of the decade.

…

PETE BUTTIGIEG: If I had my druthers, every car would be made in America. Now, we know that if technology is coming, whether people are ready for it or not, it is coming. It’s happening around the world. And Donald Trump allowed China to take the lead on this. I want those EVs made in America. When I think about Howard County and–.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Allowing China?

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Which is where I started, my first.

BRIAN KILMEADE: They have the rare earth that you guys won’t let them mine! You will not let them mine in Minnesota where the governor wants to be president–.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Sorry. Is this an interview or debate? Can I at least finish?

BRIAN KILMEADE: I just can’t let you throw out fallacies. It’s important.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: Can I at least–. Excuse me? Name one statement that I just made that you would say is factually inaccurate.

BRIAN KILMEADE: The statement you just made that Donald Trump let China take the lead. You have a guy, an.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: You don’t think China took the lead in EVs under Donald Trump?

BRIAN KILMEADE: I would say that, number one, he didn’t want a mandate to tilt the playing field. If somebody wants an EPA, they should be able to get it, not get a rebate. If they buy.

PETE BUTTIGIEG: And if somebody wants and if they can get it and if somebody wants a gas car, they can do it, but you get it. But what we’re doing is we’re making sure more of those are built in the US.

Both of the fact-checks that were cited support Buttigieg’s statements.

Watch above via Fox & Friends.