Pete Buttigieg touts African-American endorsements that do not exist

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has an endorsement problem.

More specifically, the 2020 Democratic primary candidate keeps padding the list of African-Americans who supposedly support his candidacy to include anyone who so much as comes within striking distance of the former mayor.

On Saturday, a South Carolina newspaper published an opinion article by Buttigieg wherein he claimed his “campaign has proudly partnered with” black-owned businesses in the state, including Diane’s Kitchen in the town of Chester and Atlantis Restaurant in Moncks Corner.

As it turns out, though, the proprietors of those establishments have no idea what the former mayor is talking about.

"I stand for what I stand for and I didn't say I had a partnership," the owner of Diane's Kitchen, Diane Cole, told ABC News.

Cole said she explicitly told Buttigieg representatives prior to the publication of the op-ed that she did not agree to any partnership with him or his campaign. Cole said she never even spoke to Buttigieg when members of his team met privately in her restaurant for a lunch that cost no more than $90. After ABC News contacted her, she received a series of emails from the Buttigieg campaign, one of which misspelled her name, asking her to agree to a position that would match the language of the op-ed. In the end, both parties settled on a statement that reads, “Diane's Kitchen greatly appreciates Pete Buttigieg and his campaign for visiting and supporting my business. We are thankful for their willingness to choose Black owned businesses here in Chester, South Carolina."

Atlantis restaurant owner Wendell Varner said similarly that he never agreed to any sort of “partnership” with the Buttigieg campaign.

"It's a little disheartening to say that – that they would say that we have a partnership with them when we don't," Varner said. "We actually don't support any presidential candidate and we try to stay out of politics as a business entity."

If it were just these two shop owners, this would not be much of a story. Maybe there were genuine misunderstandings between Cole and Varner and Buttigieg’s team. But the fact that the former mayor’s campaign keeps touting non-existent “partnerships,” all while he struggles to attract support from minority voters, gives the distinct impression that his campaign is intentionally misleading voters about the true status of his support in the black community.

Read more: Pete Buttigieg touts African-American endorsements that do not exist

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Pete Buttigieg pledges to 'do better' at attracting black voters

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg pledged on Tuesday to do more to reach out to African-American voters, laying out specifics of how he'll address the lack of diversity.

"We need to invite more and more people into the process. We do it through our team and the team that we're building," Buttigieg told CNN's Poppy Harlow and John Avlon on "New Day."

The mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said he needs to do better when it comes to reaching out to African-American voters and increasing the diversity of the crowd at his campaign events.

"I think we need to do better," Buttigieg told CNN. "As I've been on the trail, we found, to some extent, it depends on geography. We had a very diverse crowd at my first stop in Nevada, but less so in South Carolina. One of the most important things you can achieve in South Carolina is engage with African-American voters in particular, which represents such an important part of our party's coalition."

Buttigieg said his outreach to African-American voters will include ensuring his campaign addresses "issues that disproportionately affect families of color," like housing, income, entrepreneurship and criminal justice reform.

He also plans to reach out to African-American voters by "working to build a diverse team within our organization."

"Some of it is quantity time. Where do you go on these campaign visits? They're very traditional and important places where you can engage in voters of color, from church networks to some of the associations that have built up around the search for justice," Buttigieg said.

"But also, there's a bit of a generational divide here. Younger people of color are less likely to organize in some of the traditional structures that would be true for my parents' generation. And that's where digital organization and reaching into different media venues is going to be important to make those connections."

Asked if he was disappointed that his crowds have not been more diverse, Buttigieg said on Tuesday it means "we've got our work cut out for us."

[SOURCE: CNN]