Pete Buttigieg
Role at the time: Former U.S. transportation secretary, interviewed on Fox News
Statement summary
Buttigieg draws an enemy-versus-ally distinction when asked about El-Sayed's comparison, while maintaining his support for El-Sayed in the Senate race.
“Iran is our enemy. Israel is not. They’re an ally, so that’s pretty clear to me.”
Why we used this label
Reference point: El-Sayed's refusal to rank Israel and Iran as threats and his comparison of the dangers they pose. Challenged the characterization: Buttigieg answers the question El-Sayed would not, classing Iran as an enemy and Israel as an ally rather than as a comparable danger. Condemned is the closest competing label and loses because he does not criticize the answer or El-Sayed and says he is not sure why the question was hard for him. His vote for El-Sayed concerns the candidacy, so it does not make this a defense of the answer.