Another Host
Appearances
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What's up, guys? Today we are joined by the Democrat's secret weapon. He's an Afghan war veteran and the former secretary of transportation. He's also one of the first gay men to run for president.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But the idea that he had to pay taxes out there and he also had to pay American taxes, then that company should have to do the exact same thing. And I don't know how you implement that. I understand it's tricky. I understand these guys are paying tens of millions of dollars to these attorneys that are just tax code nerds that are trying to find the loopholes. I've spoken to some of these guys.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And I've spoken to some hedge fund dudes that were literally like, listen, we could try to find ways to make money in the market. It's easier to attack the tax code. Mm-hmm. They literally told me that they're like, the money is attacking the tax code, not the market.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I mean, that's something that would, and I don't understand the wording, but to what we were speaking before, like speaking to people's feelings, like finding a way to effectively tax these corporations, which would reduce taxes on working class people, finding a way to turn that into one sentence, but letting a working class person know that they're going to pay 20% less because we found a way for these corporations to honor what their tax burden should be.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I mean, when Trump or when Doge or whatever was saying—maybe it was Lutnick was talking about the tariffs, and they were like, yeah, well, yes, the goods are going to be more expensive, and it's going to be more expensive for everyday people, but with the money that the tariffs bring in, we're actually going to remove the income tax for people making under $150,000 a year.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Whether or not they do that, that is— That is fresh meat for somebody who's going, I make under $100,000 a year, and that is a huge burden on me, and I can provide for my kids so much better. They can go to that camp that they've been telling me about.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
They're saying they're going to offset that burden with the money that comes in for the tariffs, regardless if they actually implement this or not. Mm-hmm. I hope that you guys come up with strategies that sound just as seductive and then intend to execute them. And what a competitive advantage you would have if you're saying these guys are all talk.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
They say the nice shit, but they don't really do it. Well, we're not all talk. We're going to say nice shit and we're delivering on it. And here's why. How can you lose? You'll never lose. But give me some nice shit. Sell me on something. Anyway, thank you so much for being here, man.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It was really incredible. I'm looking forward to, I think we're all looking forward to seeing what you end up doing. I think that you're a really brave and amazing figure in our political sphere. It'll be cool to see what else you do. I'll be out there. We'll see you.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And today he's here to explain how he kept the planes in the sky, how billionaires legally dodged taxes, why Trump's new tariffs could be hurt in America, what he ate in Afghanistan that made him gay, and most importantly, why every Republican national convention... Grindr is on fire. Give it up for Pete Buttigieg.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
For example, it's like, it's not going to be income tax, right? Because they'll find a way to not have income. So you can adjust capital gains. Right.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But even with capital gains, you're only you're only taxing them when they cash out. And a lot of these guys won't cash out. They just take loans against their investments and then loans aren't taxable. So they live for free. So that's where the idea of wealth taxes come in.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
No, I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. I just – I think that there is – This feeling, this sentiment, I think that Akash was tapping into as well. And there's two things. Like, you seem like somebody who's very knowledgeable and very aware of all these things. You know these people that were fired in this random factory in, what did you say it was? Kokomo, Indiana. In Indiana, right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's like, the average person might not know about that. They don't know about these factories being built. But you have to meet the average person where they feel emotionally. Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And, like, I think you do a really good job, and I've seen a lot of your interviews, is, like, acknowledging the emotions of the people that you're talking to before giving them evidence that might be contrary to them. Yeah. Instead of this, like, finger-wagging approach, which is like, oh, you're stupid if you don't agree with me. Yeah. Really important. But just quick, like, I think it'd be...
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think the average American isn't even aware that what Amazon makes a year and what they pay in taxes. I think they paid zero dollars last year.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And I get what they're doing. It's like they're writing off losses from other parts of the business or they're reinvesting that money and growing the business. And I don't want the pendulum to swing so far that you can't start a business and you can't. Sure. grow and thrive. And I think that's like one of the great things about America. But there has to be this middle ground.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And if we don't do something about it, the American people should at least be aware of the I don't want to say the CEOs, but the people that own these companies that are essentially stealing from the American people and using the system. We should be aware of who they are. I'm not saying we should do anything to them, but they should be shamed. Or taxed.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If they're not going to pay the taxes, you're going to pay it emotionally.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I just want to tax them. I do think there's a sociopathy to these people that you might underestimate. Yes, true, but maybe their partners... There will be no more...
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
To artificially manipulate your currency?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You make your currency cheap.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Now, how does that work? Think about it.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
When you go to Europe and you find out the euro is like, there are moments where it's under the dollar and you're like, oh my God, let's go. I'm getting this hotel.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I heard that this is a little bit of a misnomer, though. I heard that there was a language. There was a little confusion with language where they said reciprocal, but it was supposed to be proportional.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Sure, in terms of the communication. But if the actual process—and I don't want to seem like I'm defending the administration, but I do want to seem like it's important that we get true information out there. So it's like if they're doing proportional— tariffs to that trade deficit. That would make sense.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If it's reciprocal, it doesn't make sense because there's no way you can match a trade deficit from a country that is a tenth of the size.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Or they'll just remove the tariffs. That was another thing that really frustrated me. If you're going to put the tariffs on, put them on everything. Seems to me like...
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And it's just like, but to me that frustrated because Apple is the one that should be paying more than anybody. They're the one that parks their money overseas. They're the one that's skirting on taxes. The mom and pop businesses that are fucked by the tariffs are still going to have to pay.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So now you're disproportionately punishing the people that are actually doing the right thing for the country in the first place. Yeah. They're building their small businesses. They're paying into the system. Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Sorry.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We've been trying to. It was like Mark Cuban, who was obviously a surrogate for the party. He came on. He was fantastic. But like everybody we asked, you know, they just wouldn't do it. Yeah. Look, there's this even like going on.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Speaking of, how do we corrupt you? No. What do we do? I keep on hearing conversations about how we're going to tax people and make a lot of money. I've been very fortunate. I've made a lot of money, and they're doing a really good job at it. How do we tax the people who really are making a lot of money, like the guys who send their wives to space for fun? How do we make sure?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And it's thrown in their face. And it's thrown in their face quite often. Look how great Biden's economy is. Look at the stock market. And they're like, that doesn't affect me at all. Cereal's $10. Yeah. What are we talking about? Yeah, I would feel deeply offended if I was them, especially when you throw that kind of support behind you know, one specific party.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And that's, I think that's why you saw a lot of them start to migrate. So then what do you do? Like, what is, how do you get working class people back?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Don't start this, man. I got people trying to have kids working at this company right here. Yeah. We cannot recover from this financially.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
At our company, we pay for anybody that wants to have their eggs frozen.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We don't hire women, though. But we will pay. There's always a loophole.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Did you work on that in the private sector? Yeah. What was that company that you worked for? McKinsey. McKinsey, McKinsey, yeah. And isn't that partially what governments will hire a company like that to do Doge stuff, right? Yeah. I wouldn't call it Doge. You're a fucking Doge.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's about power. Look, I'll give you an example. Yeah. You're telling me people in government are concerned with power. I know. It's shocking.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think there is... Wow. I wouldn't say unanimous support with the criticism of Doge, but I think that there is a lot of support for the way that it's been handled. Though I would also say that the idea of an agency that is attacking bloat and excess spending of the government is a bipartisan supported issue as well.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think initially when Doge, when Elon first announces this, and I think it's Elon and Vivek, people are really supportive, I think, on both sides. They're like, yeah, let's cut some government spending. If you're actually doing it for real, and that's an
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So on that, so this idea with Doge, it seems to me, and again, I only know like the most surface level version of it, is that the way that the government becomes more efficient is just firing a bunch of people. That seems like saving money. I don't know if that's how it becomes more efficient.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
The efficiency is getting rid of the bureaucracy that stops a plane from flying just because it doesn't have an on and off switch for a smoking light, right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Because a lot of—I think that there is altruism and benevolence in a lot of these policies, right? They're trying to protect people. Yeah, they're all there for some reason or another. Yeah. And, like, maybe some is, like— I don't know. What have you experienced?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Like you were, you know, secretary of transportation, like when you're trying to rebuild some bridge or whatever like that, what was the biggest hiccup that you experienced that you're like, we got to just get this out of the way. There's no way we're going to be able to improve people's lives if this is here. What is an example of that?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
That's Second Avenue Subway we don't want. I'm telling you, as a New Yorker, we don't want it. We never needed it. It's never been an issue. I remember when you guys started building it, we're like, who the fuck is this for? Nobody on the Upper East Side, from where it goes to where it ends, uses the subway. That's all old ladies. They take Uber.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Nobody, there hasn't been a dumb, I'm sorry if this is your idea, but it's so fucking stupid. There's never been a dumber idea for a subway. There are so many other places we could put subways. We could add some more trains, but Second Avenue specifically, there's a train on Lex. You walk two more blocks, you get a train.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I'm telling you, we don't use it. I used to live up there. I did. I went to school in the Upper East Side my entire life.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You've never said one New Yorker. I actually went near it. You went near it. I didn't go on it. I went near it.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
There's safety in it being crowded. There's safety in it being crowded. You never had a homeless guy jerk off on you when it's crowded. Actually, that's what they try to do.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And so if you're on the White House's good side, it sends a message basically, be on our good side, we won't clip your program. That is one way of interpreting it for sure.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
That's way better than a second Avenue subway, if you want to talk about that.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
During your time as the Secretary of Transportation, right? Yeah. Did nobody try to bribe you or anything? How did you keep the planes in the air?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Voyeurism right there. Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial, right? Both liberal politicians.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You started a conversation when you sat down on the couch and said that Lachlan should have died. Which is not the first thing we often hear from a, you know, future president. He said, Lachlan should have died in White Lotus. Talk to us.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Do you think he was, like, extreme conservative?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I was trying to shoehorn a joke. Let's go with it. No, the joke is... Come on, buddy. He's so right.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I agree with what he said about California.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think it's easy to do when, like, every girl's hot. Huh? Disgusting. No, like, have you been to Scandinavia? It's like, every girl's hot, right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You'll spend a little bit more. You know what I mean? It's something to look at. Because you're just happy to be there. You're happy to be there. Have you talked to Scandinavians when they travel abroad and what they see? Can I get a real answer from this man? This is a real experience.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I got dudes too. They're tall. They're handsome. They have facial hair. They're Vikings. All right. i'm just saying we have we're getting to a real point all right guys let's take a break for a second because it's time to help you get your money up okay acorns is a financial wellness app that helps you take control of your money with simple tools to make it
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
easy to start saving and investing for your future. This is investing, investing for your future, not gambling on stocks like a lot of people do. I think the vocabulary has been completely manipulated. They want that liquidity in the market. They want you to be guessing based on random fucking letters, thinking you know what Apple
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
is going to do or Google is going to do, and then these hedge funds take advantage of it. What I'm trying to tell you right now is Acorns is about investing in your future. This is long-term investments and building out a portfolio and using that compound interest to provide for yourself in the future. You do not need to be rich.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Acorns lets you get started with the spare money you've got right now, even if all you've got is spare change. They have something called Roundup, which essentially rounds up all your purchases. And that difference, so you buy something for $1.50, that 50 cents goes into your account. That continues to get invested. You are investing in yourself.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You're adding more to your account, which is going to compound over time. And when you look at it in a decade or two decades, you're going to be very happy that you chose to invest your money, not gamble it, okay? Acorns is not making money off of transactions, by the way. You are paying a monthly fee, okay?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
They're not trying to trick you into the transaction game where you make money every time you trade. That's gambling. Again, that's back to the gambling thing, which we're trying to get away from, okay? I'm telling you right now, you can create your Acorns account and start investing in five minutes, and Acorns will give you small, simple steps to get you and your money on tracks. Sign up now.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Join over 14 million all-time customers who have already saved and invested over $25 billion with Acorns. Plus, Acorns will boost your new account with a $20 bonus investment offer available at acorns.com. That is acorns.com. flagrant, F-L-A-G-R-A-N-T, to get your $20 bonus investment today.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Here's a dirty little secret that the insurance industry may want to keep under wraps. Insurance companies profit by holding onto your money for as long as possible. So after an accident, they might do whatever they can to delay or deny your claim. This way, they can keep those profits growing. Morgan & Morgan,
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
fights hard against these corporations to make sure that you get every dollar you deserve okay if you're in court for an accident that is someone else's fault the insurance companies want jurors to think the at fault driver is the one paying the verdict amount so they give out a smaller settlement nobody wants to make one guy pay millions of dollars he can't afford to pay but
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's really the insurance companies who are covering the cost and doing anything they can to make that settlement as small as possible. When Morgan & Morgan takes on a case, they are almost always going after the big insurance companies and not the individuals at fault. So Morgan & Morgan fights hard for their clients, and these corporations know that.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
A recent client, Pennsylvania, received $29 million. Insurer's best offer was $500,000. So take that into account here. The insurance company offered $500,000. What did they end up paying? $29 million. Another recent client in Florida received $20 million. The last offer in the insurance company, $0, okay? There's a reason Morgan & Morgan is America's largest injury law firm.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Hiring the wrong firm can be disastrous. Hiring the right firm could substantially increase your settlement. With Morgan & Morgan, it's easy to get started, and their fee is free unless they win. Just visit ForThePeople.com slash flagrant or dial pound law. That is pound 529. That is F O R the people.com slash flagrant or dial pound law pound five to nine. This is a paid advertisement.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Nobody makes income. Anybody that's generating that type of wealth is not making income. So it's almost like, and this is not like a woo-hoo, we got it so tough, but it's almost like the people who are, I think Miles used the term, middle-rich, middle-class, they're the ones that are actually paying what they should pay.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Why is Warren Buffett bragging about it?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You haven't built it yet? It's not there yet.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We were so excited.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I'm telling you, there was parades in New York City. There was a memo sent out. They were like, we're building a second avenue.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I mean, it was. But what is very hard to defend. It was going to totally reinvigorate that economically destitute area called the Upper East Side.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But it's also—it's not that. It's like, obviously, the rail project in California. We were doing a show in Hawaii, and it was a joke that everybody kind of makes, but there was a rail project out there, not underground. And they put $12 billion into it. It hasn't moved a centimeter in 10 years. And from my understanding, from people out there, they're like, it's just pure corruption.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's not even bureaucracy.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If they're adhering to the tax code, they're not hiring these tax attorneys that are going to attack it all willingly and try to reduce whatever they're paying in. But let's assume, let's take it for face value, right? Somebody, an athlete or somebody that's making $5 million and let's say that they pay $2.5 million around, right? Yeah. The concern I have really is potentially the corporations.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We're not, by any means, and don't let me speak for you guys, like hardline, the government is horrible and everything about it is horrible at all. We live in New York City. We understand the importance of rules and regulations. You got someone living above you and below you, they're blasting music. After 10 o'clock, you're like, I would like the government to step in here.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And make a rule where they can't do that. It's nice. So, like, I think we understand more than most Americans how important regulation can be to you living, like, a happy, fruitful life. So, if you're living in a house somewhere in the middle of nowhere, your next neighbor is three miles away, I get why you're like, government, get the fuck out of my life. I get it.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
When you live on top of people and below people, you see the importance.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I'm not saying you don't, but I think that it's easier for them to ignore them.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Name any train. Name any train. Name your favorite train. Sorry, I apologize. I'm off sugar from Lent. Name your favorite train. I'll tell you my favorite stop. Guys, guys, come on. We're saving America.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And I'm not smart enough to even know about this stuff. But it seems to me, and I think tariffs plays into this, so I'd love to get your take on it. But it seems to me on the surface, and again, I'm giving a very emotional argument. You can give me tons of data, call me an idiot for even thinking this, but it's possible.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
government getting shit done because we don't see a lot less less faith less faith yeah i'm gonna be completely transparent i have almost no faith anything will get done and i think that is specifically positioned on liberals i think that the republicans have done a really good job of projecting that on democrats
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Like you hear a lot of rhetoric, whether it's right or wrong, whether there's data backing or not. Who knows? But they've done a really good job of going, hey, look at California. Look how California looks. Look at these cities. They spent this much on homeless people. And there are even more of them that are homeless. Right. And look at San Francisco. Look what's happening.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
People moving out of the city, et cetera. And I think they've done a really good job of marketing the perceived failures of Democrats in these states. How do you as a Democrat change that perception while not gaslighting the people who live there that do feel like their cities have... have, I don't want to say become ruined, but have definitely like decreased the standard of living.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Oh, fuck. This whole time I was like, man, at least you could be like, you're wrong, bro. And they'd be like, yeah, I was. No, I'm sorry.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
All right. Okay. Seems to me that there's been an effort that has been supported to send the manufacturing of some of these products overseas to increase profits, right? Sure. Or maybe it's more effective to manufacture them overseas. Maybe it's not all nefarious, but the idea is to increase shareholder profits or increase the profits of the company, which I'm not necessarily against. Right.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We had Mayor Adams on. We brought up the subway system and the perception that it's incredibly dangerous right now. Yeah. And he was like, it's the safest it's been in X amount of years. He gave examples for, you know, crimes being down. Now there's other ways to like fudge these crime numbers. If you're not, what is the word where you actually punish people for the crime?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If you're not, if you're not prosecuting crimes, I guess you could say that these crimes didn't happen. So then all of a sudden it looks like crimes are down. So I think there are ways of fudging numbers.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But, uh, but still he came and he gave me this data or he gave us this data. And then we were kind of shocked. We were like, Oh, I thought the subway was dangerous again.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What I'm against is when you also put these like shell companies overseas to decrease, like you create the headquarters and you put it in Dublin or something like that so you can avoid taxes. And it's a PO box, like nobody's even there. Exactly. So you can't do both. You can send the manufacturing overseas. Yes.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But at least if we're taxing the revenue of that company that's generating billions of dollars, you would like to believe that that money would come back to the American people and then we could reinvest in the American people. And then maybe there's other industries that would pop up and those jobs could transfer from manufacturing to those new ones. Yeah. Or vice versa.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And they're going to see you at the supermarket.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, we're in the echo chambers. And the algorithms are just making those echo chambers more extreme.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
The algorithm is going to reward the more salacious version of that information.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But you can't do, to me, it just feels like if you do both, you are using the marketplace that America is.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
There's what we think is important. This is why TikTok works better than Instagram. How do you mean? Because TikTok is what we actually want. And Instagram is what we want to want. We follow all these people. We think we want information about what's going on in the world. But TikTok is like, motherfucker, I know what you want. Just shut up, sit down and scroll.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And that's why we watch more TikTok. And Instagram is trying to compete. But the reality is we don't want to look at all the people we follow.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah. It's less cognitive effort. It's more cognitive effort to think about what you want to consume that day and put some work into it. Way less to just scroll.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, I don't know why that is.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, when was Game 2? It was last night, right? Jesus Christ, dude. I don't know. I wasn't about it. It's like something about Detroit. Like, I don't even need to see Detroit. Well, it's 1-1, so you might need to see Detroit.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So what do we got game three now that our eyes are going to be on it? Now that our eyes are going to be on it. Yeah, no, we definitely wouldn't.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
All right, listen, put your money where Akash has put his money historically. That's always worked out. Whatever team Akash is rooted for.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Stake is the leader in global betting and U.S. social casinos. Bet on top of sports and political events. Use the promo code FLAGRANT for your welcome bonus. Now let's get back to the show.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You think guns is one of them?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But if we're talking about, like, background checks— I think there's support for regulation. There's support for background checks. But I don't know if I would, like, hinge the election on guns.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, I'm supportive.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So what do you got to change? Like, how do you just, sorry, Al, but how do you change that perception if you know that more people agree with the policies that you guys have? Why aren't they agreeing with you? And what are you doing wrong?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
The only one that does it is AOC and Bernie. And it's very specific and very targeted, and it works. And it feels like everybody else is worried about offending somebody or being yelled at by one of your constituents or one of those groups that you're supposed to be protecting.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So just addressing societal utility. If you want attention for a project that has to meet societal utility, people have to need it. They have to want it and they have to feel like they're not allowed to have it. And then you bring it to them and then they're really excited.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If people aren't tripping about a bridge or like worried about a second avenue subway, like I'm telling you, nobody's going to care. And it's not going to be anything that you get pat on the back about. But if there's something that people in New York City do really care about and they're really concerned about and you guys address it, you will be heroes. Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's the nature of what, so it's like- I think so, but it is tougher when it just goes well. No, I understand what you're saying. I think that makes perfect sense. Like when we expect the roads to work, so when they work, we don't go, great job, Pete, right? Or whoever's in control, right? We expect the plane to land.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We don't go, matter of fact, if they applaud for the captain, you're like, who are these cornballs? Like it's supposed to land, right? Like that is like a reaction people have. Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But if there are things that we—and this is one of those situations where it's like, if there's things that we want, that people want, and you are the one to bring it to us, you will be really applauded, especially if we feel like we've been asking for it for years and nobody's listened to us at all. Mm-hmm.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think if you do certain things for us, not you, somebody in your position that we're not asking for, right? And then go, but this is what you need. Now we're back at the finger wagging where we're like, bro, I didn't even want that to be fixed. Why do you want credit for this thing we're not even asking for? So I think it's really about listening.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What do you think people actually in America, what do you think people really need? If there's five issues, what are the things that they're concerned about?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Roads. We go all over the country. We're actually weirdly...
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
uh good people comedians are good people to talk about when it comes to like the different parts of this country and how people are living because we go every single weekend every different weird obscure part of this country we're there it's not just the big cities like we're everywhere and um it's roads everywhere i ask people every time i go to a city because i want to know what's going on i want to know what they're frustrated by it's roads every single time if p this day one you're like i'm fixing every fucking road in america and then you did you're
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You'd be president because it's something people are actually frustrated by and they don't feel like the government is is answering. You know, what are the other five things like that? OK, so that's one security is the other one.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Take back land. What? I don't know. It sounded fine. I'm just saying, like, I want to see the Democrats be a little more gangster. Like, Republicans would go, we're taking Greenland. What is your build a wall? What is your statement? What is your outlandish thing that you might not do, but it kind of riles people up? It gets the people going.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Like, if you want to say, hey, we're going to seize this land and we're going to build 200,000 affordable housing units on it. That might make some people get excited. It would get attention.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But there is a truth. There is some truth in it, which is, like, I don't know what the statement is for Democrats. I don't know what your build a wall is. And you need a version of that because those are the things that people attach themselves to. As Alex said, like, he's like, hey, we're deporting all these people who are here illegally.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And then you show the video, and then people are like, that's what I voted for, and it's happening. I feel good. Mm-hmm.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What I'm saying is tell people If you want to help them, say the thing that you think they need help with out loud. Directly. And say that you're going to do it, and then endeavor to do it. We already expect you guys not to do it. So the least you could do is fucking lie to me. You don't even lie to me. Like, have the decency. It's like, we're married, okay? You're out there cheating on me with...
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But public parks is another version of this and stuff like that. You can't privatize the public park.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Scandinavians. He's good. You're out there cheating me with Scandinavians, right? You don't have to throw it in my face. Do you know what I mean? Like, at least just do the decency of telling me the thing that I want to hear and then endeavor to do it. Because right now, I don't know what the what is the platform?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What is the the Republicans did an amazing job of making the Democratic platform feel like this wasn't it at all. This was completely wrong. But they made it feel like we're going to let the school do whatever they want to your kids balls. Right. That's no, that was their message for sure.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And you didn't have a message of something that you cared about that was loud enough to refute that.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I thought it was beautiful. I know you want that. Tell me that it's going to happen. And then how is it going to happen? Like, that's the difference between, like, it's build the wall. And I keep harping on this, but I think it's important for Democrats to understand the effectiveness of that statement. Build the wall wasn't even about build the wall.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It was an idea that satisfied a concern that people felt. So what are your ideas that are going to satisfy the concern? Well, you just told me all these things that I also want. So now we're together. We both want the same things. But you didn't give me the solution to the feeling that I have. I, too, want a safe home.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You didn't say security guard outside of your door every night or whatever bullshit. You know what I mean? If it's more police on the street, whatever the thing is, punish petty crimes, whatever the thing is. So. And I think that there's a lot of Americans that are at the end of their hope, right? And they feel really disillusioned and they feel this lack of trust that we've spoken about today.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And simply wanting things that they want isn't enough. And I think that's when you said, like, current circumstances lead to a Trump victory. It's not like Trump populism. I think there was a rejection of the establishment for a lot of people. And then hearing from Kamala that she wasn't really going to do anything differently and
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I think that was a big mistake because I think people wanted to change. Right. So, so I think that's something that you guys should endeavor to do is, is tell us specifically what you're going to do that satisfies those things we're feeling. It seems, you know, exactly what we're feeling because that was beautiful. I think we're all of us were like, yo, you just hit it.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You're knocked out the park, but I need the statements that are going to satisfy those feelings because that's what gets people to sway over. And that's what they're fucking good at. Yeah. The bumper sticker. They are. What? So what, what's a, what's a democratic bumper sticker? I'm working on it. Fair enough.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
This was after you got back from Afghanistan.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
What happened? What did you eat out there?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Did he jump on that immediately? Was he like, oh, hell yeah. Did he, like, slide into the DMs? He was like, he's, he's, he's... Do you know what I mean? Like, was that quick afterwards?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So including them in those groups of people that you are looking out for.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And I think that's why there seems to be some a lot of support for the administration right now or one reason why. And even support for the administration when it comes to tariffs. You know, when the tariffs happen and you hear about like the stock market being deeply affected, most Americans are not invested in the stock market. So they're like, I don't give a fuck.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah. I think that there's a really beautiful story about giving that woman grace.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And choosing maybe to not correct her and understanding. Now, you had the benefit of having a relationship with that person and understanding maybe how difficult it was for her to even come there.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And you both had this amazing experience where you connected with people as individuals before you knew things about each other that might create some separation, which is kind of a really awesome thing about the human spirit.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's like once I kind of know who you are as a dude or a chick, like these other things in your life, all of a sudden I have a little bit more empathy for or understanding or at least want to understand because I like who you are. But... What a great experiment. How do we get to that point? And how do Republicans also do that?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Like, this is something I've been, every time I go on like a really conservative podcast, the trans discussion comes up. And then like, and what I've tried to explain, at least from my perspective, is like both sides disagree. Right.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And I imagine like the most benevolent part of the left is going, hey, these kids might be suffering in the wrong body and their parents might not create a space for them at home where they can like be their true selves. And then. Parents on the right go, hey, I don't want to be in second place for the decisions made about my kid to the school. Like, I don't even know the principal.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Why are they like, and I have empathy for that, too. And if how do we get to a point where we're not constantly trying to dunk on one another? Right. And we're actually trying to, like you said, meet people where they are. Yeah. How do we do that as a country in general?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Oh, rich people are losing some money or 50 percent. We can go off the numbers, meaning there's a large swath of Americans that don't feel directly. But here's the thing.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's amazing how understanding we can be when we have that type of relationship built first. All right, guys, let's take a break for a second. It's time to stop wearing these baggy, ill-fitting tees or hoodies, the essentials. Get your essentials right. Make sure that that undershirt fits you lovely, okay? The way that you're going to do that is rocking with True Classic.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
True Classic has one mission. Make sure guys look good and feel better. They've nailed it. Fit, feel, and price across your entire wardrobe. Not just tees, but hoodies, jeans, activewear, everything you need to level up your everyday style.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
t-shirt true classic isn't just about the clothes by the way their brand dna is built on being highly intentional in everything they do from creating high quality essentials to delivering amazing customer service to giving back to the communities they believe in every detail is done with purpose we've been wearing true classic for a while now
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And from the first piece that I put on, I knew it was different. Snug where you want it. Relaxed where you need it. No weird bunching. No awkward tight spots. Just a clean, effortless fit that won't ruin your fit. Forget overpriced designer nonsense. Skip the cheap throwaways. True Classic delivers premium essentials built for real life.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Grab yours at Target or Costco or head to trueclassic.com slash flagrant to get hooked up today. Now let's get back to the show. All right, guys, take a break for a second. This podcast has been brought to you by Squarespace. Shout out to Squarespace, man. The absolute goat has been rocking with me for over a decade.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
If you have a company and you you need a place for it online, it's simple as that. An Instagram page isn't just going to do it. You need a website. I need to go to a website to believe you have something real online. bare minimum, and Squarespace is the place where you're going to go create that.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
They make it easy to make a beautiful website to help you engage with your audience, sell anything from products to content to time, and do it all on your own terms. Now, Do you know how to build a website? No, Squarespace does. They make the website creation so easy.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
The other things I just mentioned, the fact that they have payments processing, the fact that you could sell actual items, you could even sell your time. These are fantastic things, but it is a daunting process to go make your own website. Squarespace has completely taken that over and they've been doing it at the top of the game for a decade now.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
onboarding is super fast and simple you can get started in just a few clicks and you can start receiving payments right away plus you can give your customers more ways to pay with popular payment methods like clarna ach direct deposit apple pay after pay and clear play also design intelligence from squarespace uses cutting edge ai technology to unlock your strongest creative potential design intelligence empowers anyone to build a beautiful more personalized website tailored to their unique needs and craft a bespoke digital identity to use across one's entire
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And last but not least, Squarespace can help you with SEO. Let's get back to the show. Like when you came out, did you speak to any of your military brethren and how did they feel about it?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But that's endearing too. Cause you know, yeah, exactly.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You're 100% right. I'm talking about the knee-jerk emotional reaction when you see people who have money and have seemingly left you behind as they've gotten richer start to suffer a little bit. You go... Yeah, I don't really care if you're suffering. In the same way that when the Palisades fires happened, there was this sentiment of like, oh, a rich person's third home is on fire.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's almost like you treat everybody like a grandparent at first. Yeah, excuse me. You know what I'm saying? You know how your granddad could say something really fucked up, but he comes from a good place. Yeah, and you love him. And then eventually, after meeting your friend who's Asian, and you convince him that he's not Vietnamese, and you're like, and then he's like, oh, I love this guy.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's not the exact words, but there's love there and empathy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so can I just ask you, are you familiar with White Boy Fun? No. This term? Okay. So this is when straight guys pretend to be gay with each other? Straight white guys. Straight white guys. Black guys are just getting on it, and they're doing really good. They're really coming around. It usually happens.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
You get a little bit late, and then you take it to the next level, and they're going to completely dominate it. But okay. So did you never see any of that in the military, where guys would do little gay jokes with each other and that kind of stuff? No.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah. Okay, okay. So, like, during this, and during this time, and it's not like, to me, it's not, like, shrouded in, like, any, like, hatred for gays. It's more about just, like, how can I do something that potentially makes my troll my friend or makes him feel uncomfortable in this moment, right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Are you ever in those scenarios, and at this time, you know you're gay, but you're not out, and then they're doing this game with you where they're like, oh, I'm going to make Pete feel so uncomfortable, and you're like, joke's on you. Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Okay. All right. You finally come out. Yeah. Okay. Um, and I'm glad we waited to the end of the episode to talk about this because I have so many questions about it given your situations in life, but I didn't want to feel reductive. Like this was your whole identity. I actually kind of want to get to know you before I asked you about two things, which is ironic.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
They'll figure it out. Not this person's entire life and belongings just went up in smoke. So I think that there is this sentiment amongst a lot of Americans, you've probably experienced it where you're from, just this kind of being left behind. Yeah. And I think this taxation of these corporations is a perfect example that really justifies that sentiment.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
We're having this conversation right now, but like, okay. So you come out like scariest thing you've been at war. You know what I mean? Like, is it, is it more terrifying than doing a drive where an IUD could go off? And like, what is the fear?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Are you like gold star or platinum? Do you know about these things?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I feel like you're still learning how to be good at this.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Gold, okay, so you've... What's platinum? So platinum is you come out C-section, so you never even touch a vagina.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
All right, fair enough. Okay, so in that process... That's really a thing. Like, I go all the way back to... These are what my gays tell me. My gays tell me these things. So, okay. So, so in this, in this process, like you're, you're dating girls. You're like, I don't really know. At what point are you like, okay, I'm definitely gay.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And is there a part of you where like, I have these aspirations to do these other things in my life. And this isn't my entire identity. Are you going in that moment? Do I stuff this down? Have you accepted it? Or have you not accepted it?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Once you came out, you must have made them feel so good.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Right. They got over that rejection. I mean, yeah, they all did. Yeah. You're the only guy who was like, it was me and told the truth.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
It's like, why are you using the American marketplace and the support that we've given you and the lack of regulation? There's a reason why these companies don't sprout up in other countries. They sprout up here. And it's not just because they happen to be these unique, smart individuals. It's because there is this marketplace that allows them to thrive here.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
you don't get to remove the headquarters so that you can not pay your fair share of taxes that's going to then support the next generation of people who do the same thing. But how do you tax them? What do you do?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Can I ask a question about that real quick? Is there a world where, and I doubt that this is possible, but is there a world where if they do that, it will influence companies that have gone abroad with their headquarters to come back here? I think... I'm not just trying to defend the administration.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Are you, let's say for example, in some like hypothetical scenario where you run for president, let's just say, Obviously, nobody has plans for that, but let's just say, potentially. You wouldn't be announcing that here, but you can, as he takes a sip of water. There must be concern about
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
the potential scrutiny on not only you, but like your family, like all these people become public figures and unfairly. So, you know, um, how do you manage that? Like what your kids can go through unfair things.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
An international agreement for taxation of corporations.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
So all these people pay the price for, some might say, your ambition. But if your ambition is to do something that would make the country a better place for your children, I imagine there's a way that you can justify that sacrifice that they would go through. Yes. I don't want to be answering the question for you.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I'm just curious how you balance all those things.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Now, it kind of seems like you're making the argument for a tariff on Lesotho. Right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
No, no. I think the justification for that was so that someone can't go put a manufacturing factory on the plate.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
I guess the one thing would be does anything really happen to the ultra-wealthy?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Sorry, keep going.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yep.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah, we're like, what are you promoting or seemingly promoting or what are the Republicans projecting to you that you're promoting that they are so against that they will reject poverty? Whatever you endeavor to do to help them with their poverty. Yeah. Meaning there might be another thing out there that is equally or potentially more important. Right.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
Yeah. Yes. A hundred percent.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
When that person, the coastal elite does it, we're doing it because we're benevolent. I'm so heroic. I'm voting against my own interest for little old you. That's the idea, right?
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
That could be the, there's, there's one thing. And then I know you got to go, but, uh, so, uh, The guy who does all our partnerships here, one of my best friends, his name is Jamil, and he was working in England for a while.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
And when he came back after working in England for a while, he found out the American government was like, yeah, but even though you worked over there, you still got to pay us tax. And he was like, what do you mean? I was working. I wasn't working. Yeah, but you're an American. So even if you have a job abroad for a company abroad, you have to pay their tax.
Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh
Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays
But you still got to pay us tax because you're American. Yeah. If him as an employee has to do that, Apple got to do it. Google's got to do it. Anybody else out there. It just cannot be that unfair. If there's that much transparency for the average, he wasn't working for an American company. Actually, I'm not exactly sure what the company was, if it was an American company.
Bone Valley
Jeremy | Chapter 4 - Horse and Buggy
And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.