Democratic presidential candidate Peter Buttigieg called out Democrats who bowed to Republican "pressure" to call for the resignation of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., over sexual misconduct allegations.
"I think it was his decision to make," Buttigieg told an MSNBC "Hardball" town hall Monday night. "But I think the way that we basically held him to a higher standard than the GOP does their people has been used against us."
Buttigieg, 37, is mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and nearly all of the Democratic senators running against him in the primary called for Franken's resignation after women levied sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Most of the calls came after pressure from Republicans who were still stinging from the disgraced campaign of Alabama Judge Roy Moore for the Senate, who lost a tight race in a deep red state to Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., after allegations Moore had inappropriate relations with underage girls years before he became a judge.
"It's not a bad thing we hold ourselves to a higher standard," Buttigieg told MSNBC host Chris Matthews before adding that Democrats might have rushed to judgment on Franken.
"I would not have applied that pressure at that time, before we knew more," he said.
As for other topics, Buttigieg said he would vote for the House to move toward impeachment of President Donald Trump, but reminded it is not his place to second-guess the political moves of those lawmakers his senior.
"Even though I have revealed myself to be ambitious in that I'm a young man running for president, I'd also think twice before offering strategic advice to [Democratic House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi," Buttigieg said.
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