OUTREACH TO THE OTHER PARTY? TREASON! Democrats furious as video of Buttigieg saying nice things about Tea Party emerges.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg faced some strong criticism online after a 2010 video of him speaking at an Indiana state Tea Party event resurfaced this week, with critics of the South Bend mayor accusing him of “sidling up to racists” and saying he’s “absolutely done.”

In his remarks to the group, which came during his unsuccessful 2010 run for Indiana state treasurer, Buttigieg discussed how he understood the economic concerns of the Tea Party voters and candidates.

“There are some, especially in my party, who think that the Tea Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party,” Buttigieg said at the time. “But there are many others who believe that the Tea Party is motivated by real concerns about the direction of our government and the responsiveness of our government to citizens—and above all, a frustration with business as usual. That is what motivated me to run,” he continued. “And so, while we may come from often very different perspectives, I believe we might have a lot in common on that front.”

Responding to the resurfaced clip, Jodi Jacobson, an editor and analyst, called the clip “unreal.”

“@PeteButtigieg literally sidling up to racist Tea Partiers. And he’s got it wrong: @GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tea Party,” she tweeted.

The Tea Party movement was not racist in the least, particularly by comparison to today’s Democratic Party. And as for the GOP being a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tea Party — if only!