Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Friday that Democrats need to veer left of center in 2020, if they want to beat President Trump.

“He is deservedly unpopular, but he could win again,” Buttigieg said of Trump at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. “I think he wins again if we look like we’re offering more of the same. I think the way he wins again, is if we look like defenders of a system that hasn’t worked.”

Pete Buttigieg speaks in Sioux City, IA: “[President Trump] wins again if we look like we’re offering more of the same… What that means is surprisingly, the riskiest thing we could do is try so hard to play it safe that we continue to walk down an establishment path.” pic.twitter.com/EXXwRiGx0I — The Hill (@thehill) July 5, 2019

“And what that means is, surprisingly, the riskiest thing we could do is try so hard to play it safe, that we continue to walk down an establishment path that has Americans believe that we’re not speaking to them,” he continued. (RELATED: Pete Buttigieg Accuses Republicans Of ‘Hypocrisy’ On Religion)

The large Democratic field showed off an array of far-left positions in the first Democratic primary debates in Miami last week. A majority of the candidates expressed support for decriminalizing border crossings, providing taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, unlimited access to abortion and drastic economic changes for the sake of preventing climate change.

Buttigieg prefaced his remark by noting that Trump supporters are not an “exotic species.”