Pete Buttigieg says Democrats can’t go back to status quo after Trump | Morning Edition

Republicans won the 2024 election through a strategy that included an enormous number of podcast appearances. Now, Democrats are debating their future election strategy, and a lot of the discussion is taking place on podcasts. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has been talking for months on NPR and elsewhere about a Democratic party that's more populist–attacking parts of the political system that don't work for most people, and more loudly pushing back against the Trump administration. Rahm Emanuel, a longtime party leader, went on Megyn Kelly's podcast and rejected some party orthodoxy on social issues. The authors Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson have appeared on a stream of podcasts to promote their book "Abundance," arguing that progressive policies have stood in the way of progressive government. Pete Buttigieg is making his own pitch in one of NPR's all-platform interviews. The past and possibly future presidential contender had a discussion that's available as an "Up First" podcast episode, a video on multiple platforms, and on the radio during "Morning Edition." In his conversation with NPR, Buttigieg warned that Democrats can't, and shouldn't, try to restore everything in the government that President Trump has broken this year. "You've got an administration that is burning down so many of the most important institutions that we have in this country, which is wrong," Buttigieg said in a Morning Edition interview in New York City. "It is also wrong to imagine that we should have just kept everything going along the way it was." Recorded on July 23, 2025 CREDITS Host: Steve Inskeep Producer: Phil Harrell Video Director: Tsering Bista Video Editor: Keren Carrion Videographers: Nikki Birch, Tsering Bista, Nickolai Hammar Audio Engineers: Cena Loffredo, Robert Rodriguez Show Editor: Reena Advani Supervising Editor: Nick Michael Executive Producers: Jay Shaylor, Samantha Melbourneweaver ------------------------------------------------------ Follow NPR elsewhere, too: • Instagram:   / npr   • TikTok:   / npr   • Facebook:   / npr