South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Hillicon Valley: FBI, DHS warn that foreign hackers will likely spread disinformation around election results | Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day | Trump to meet with Republican state officials on tech liability shield MORE (D) joked Saturday about the sizable 2020 Democratic primary field, quipping that he and his fellow primary contenders "might as well carpool."

Buttigieg made the joke at a campaign event in Iowa, the site of the first caucuses of the 2020 primary, where he told a crowd in Des Moines that the Democrats "might as well carpool" as they travel around the early primary states, CNN reported.

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"You would be surprised how often we are in dialogue with each other," Buttigieg added. "And as these cattle calls pick up we are going to get to know each other better and better."

Buttigieg also said during the event that he hopes the party will unify after the primaries end, telling his audience that he didn't see it "as having opponents so much as competitors."

The South Bend mayor registered at 9 points in an Economist/YouGov survey this week, ahead of much of his competition in the Democratic primary. Still, he trails behind frontrunners including former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Democratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida Harris faces pivotal moment with Supreme Court battle MORE (D) and Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersOutrage erupts over Breonna Taylor grand jury ruling Dimon: Wealth tax 'almost impossible to do' Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death MORE (I-Vt.), and has in recent weeks fallen behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenDimon: Wealth tax 'almost impossible to do' CNN's Don Lemon: 'Blow up the entire system' remark taken out of context Democrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court MORE (D-Mass.).

Other presidential contenders, including Biden, have joked about the size of the Democratic presidential primary, which now hosts 24 hopefuls.

“There's a lot of people who are qualified and decent and running,” Biden quipped at a campaign event last month. “And I think it's one heck of a field, although I never anticipated there'd be 300 people running.”