Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke Spanish at his primary night rally on Tuesday without any hiccups. The crowd ate it up and cheered his near fluent remarks. But when he tried to go bilingual again on Thursday at the League of United Latin American Citizens town hall in Las Vegas, he forgot to brush up on his espagnol.
He began strong, accent and everything. But near the end of his remarks at LULAC he trailed off and forgot the Spanish words for "this evening." So instead he finished in English. It's hard to watch.
Pete Buttigieg tries and fails at speaking Spanish while addressing the LULAC presidential town hall in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/4e54um0rVo
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 14, 2020
Twitter had a field day with his broken Spanish.
When you’re at a Mexican resturaunt and try to impress the waitress
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2020
pic.twitter.com/jvTYT17r4V
Pobrecito! https://t.co/yuyDNJ6V2Y
— Mercedes Schlapp (@mercedesschlapp) February 14, 2020
when you say on your resume you speak eight languages and get tested in a job interview
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) February 14, 2020
pic.twitter.com/2ugdPsa1Qf
Over the years Democratic candidates who are trying to court the Latino vote have tried to outdo each other by speaking Spanish on the campaign trail and during live presidential debates. Looking at you, Beto. I mean Robert.
Gaffes aside, Buttigieg has had a strong first leg in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. He came in a close second to Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) in both the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary.
