Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The 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 MORE tried to separate himself from his 2020 primary competitors in an interview airing Sunday.

Buttigieg discussed fellow candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Bernie Sanders: 'This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome MORE (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Fox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio MORE in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation". He particularly knocked Biden's vote for the Iraq War.

"I certainly think that vote was a mistake and I have a different view on that conflict," Buttigieg said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Buttigieg, who served as a Naval intelligence offer, also noted that the war was something he "opposed as a student and continue[s] to think was a terrible idea."

Buttigieg discussed an essay he wrote as a teen expressing his admiration for Sanders, but said that he has a different approach.

"It's not unusual, in a moment like this, to admire somebody and also find yourself competing with them," he said. "But I have a different approach. I have a somewhat different message and I represent a very different messenger."

When asked by host Margaret Brennan whether he thinks Sanders' moment has passed, Buttigieg responded that he thinks the current moment "calls for something new."

"The values that make us Democrats shouldn't change," he said. "We've got to find a different vocabulary around them. We've got to find a way to communicate, in terms of real world impact, what it means to go with a progressive direction, rather than stay on this drift that we have right now in Washington."

Buttigieg said his executive experience gave him a different perspective than other contenders.

"Part of it's because I'm a mayor. And so my world is one of being on the ground," he continued. "We eat what we cook as mayors. We live with the policy decisions we make. There's no force field of staff between me and the constituents who count on me."

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Buttigieg, alongside Biden and Sanders, is among the 24 candidates competing for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination.