Pete Buttigieg on Trump Tariffs, Taxing Billionaires, and Republican Gays

YERRR – former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg came on to talk about fixing America’s crumbling infrastructure, fixing the Democratic Party, & his political aspirations. He gets into policy, public perception, parenting, his coming out story, and what it takes to run for president. All that and more on this week’s episode of FLAGRANT. INDULGE. 00:00 Intro 00:32 White Lotus recap 3:11 Commercial space travel + Air travel is unbelievably safe 5:37 Taxing the ultra wealthy + Corporate tax avoidance 11:17 Tariffs are a tax + Reducing incentives to hoard money 15:05 Urban decay, Corporate profiteering & Wealth tax 23:12 What would Pete do differently with tariffs? 28:26 Finger-wagging, Compassion + Dems’ direction 33:59 AOC + Bernie messaging & Policies 38:14 DOGE is about power not efficiency 44:56 Huge transportation projects in NYC 48:50 Power play + Limits on power 54:00 Where do our taxes go? 1:00:47 Best results aren’t seen + Slow progression = bureaucracy 1:08:11 Perception of Dems’ states + Facts are debated 1:15:20 Stocks & politicians + Misunderstanding data 1:19:14 Willing to correct mistakes 1:22:00 NBA playoffs time 1:23:55 Echo chambers + Courting some controversy 1:32:28 What do Americans really need? 1:38:57 Right to choose and tax cuts + Address our feelings 1:41:31 What would Pete do? 1:45:46 Coming out, “Just In Case” letter + Radical Empathy 1:59:42 Reaction to coming out + White boy fun 2:04:40 Telling parents was not easy + Challenges 2:11:30 Fatherhood 2:19:20 Raising Black children 2:22:39 If Pete runs for president, what are the costs? 2:26:58 What drew Pete into public service? 2:32:46 Is America ready for a gay president? 2:34:53 How do keep the US at no. 1? A1 not AI 2:41:14 Addressing the wage gap + Poverty 2:46:17 Tax Cuts being passed right now