It’s a high-stakes election with a large pool of would-be presidents, and young women might just be the deciding vote on our future. To help you choose—and to get the candidates to address what matters most to YOU—we’re hosting the hopefuls on the campaign trail. This is The Candidates Come to Cosmo.

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Jessica Pels: Welcome to Cosmo.



Pete Buttigieg: Glad to be here.

Jessica Pels: So first, I’d love to hear what brings you here today.

Pete Buttigieg: Sure. Well, I think it’s really important to reach out to voters where they are, and the reality is, not everyone is following the blow-by-blow of the presidential election process. People have a lot going on in life. And often, those who have the most to gain or lose by the decisions being made in Washington also have the least time right now because of what’s going on in the economy—the fact that you’ve got to work multiple jobs, people are caring for family members or being parents.

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RUBEN CHAMORRO

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And I want to make sure that I’m reaching everybody where they are, which means going beyond the kind of traditional campaign stops and political hits and making sure I’m really engaging folks. And Cosmo’s readership I think consists of so many Americans that I want to be able to reach.



Jessica Pels: That’s great. I mean, you’re a millennial yourself, so you speak to our audience of millennials. And we are looking forward to hearing today about how you plan to benefit young women in particular. Our audience is very ready to cast their 2020 ballot. We reach 1 in 5 over-18-year-olds in this country. They’re very excited to vote and they really do want to know which candidate will prioritize them. It’s worth pointing out that 60 percent of our readers are still undecided about who they want to support. So we’re really glad you’re here today to tell us more about why they should support you.



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I’ll jump right in. At last Tuesday’s debate, you said, “Women’s reproductive freedom is an American right.” Eighty-five percent of our readers, and these are young women whose futures are entirely dependent on their ability to have rightful control over their own bodies, they agree with you. But the vast majority of our readers feel that candidates, and especially the male candidates, aren’t doing enough to prioritize reproductive rights. Can you tell us that you’ll focus on that more?



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Pete Buttigieg: Yeah, for sure. Because it’s so important. Look, I’m a pro-choice Democratic mayor in South Bend, Indiana, where I know that not everybody views this issue the same way, but I have been very consistent about the need to respect and support women’s rights, including reproductive rights.

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Ruben Chamorro

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And what we see right now is an all-out assault on women’s reproductive freedom in this country. You see it happening administratively. Things like the Title X gag rule that prevents providers from giving honest medical advice and referrals to women. You see it legislatively, especially in the states where legislatures, sometimes all-male legislative votes, strip women’s rights when it comes to reproductive care. And of course you see it in the judiciary with extreme nominees being appointed to the bench.



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All of that changes when I’m president because this is part of what it means to honor the idea of American freedom to live a life of your choosing. There will always be a range of opinion in America about how some of these moral choices ought to be made. What I think we ought to be able to agree on, if not where to draw certain lines, it’s who gets to draw the line. And I trust the woman faced with the decision to make the right decision. It is not going to be a better decision medically or morally because a government or male politician or boss has intervened and told her what to do.



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Jessica Pels: We love that. That’s great. Okay, I want to ask a question about age. This topic came up at the debate last week and started a larger conversation in which there was a bit of a divide between the electorate, and our readers actually show a similar split. Fifty-three percent of our readers say age doesn’t matter at all when it comes to a presidential candidate; 47 percent say that some candidates are just “too old” to be president.

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As one of the youngest candidates in the field, how do you feel about age as a factor?

RUBEN CHAMORRO

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Pete Buttigieg: Well, I think it really depends on the person, and some people twice my age are just as vigorous and capable of doing the job. But I will say that I think a new generational perspective matters at a time like this. I come from a generation that has so much on the line. The longer you’re planning to be here, the more you’re going to be personally impacted by the choices that are being made right now.

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So I think about the future not as a theoretical question but as a place that I’m hoping to live in. And when it comes to climate change, when it comes to making sure that the country’s finances are in order, when it comes to making sure that the future is one where a woman’s right to choose is secure and not under threat. All of these issues that we’re debating right now, I think that the perspective of a generation whose lives have been formed for good and bad by political decisions brings a lot to the table at a time like this.

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Jessica Pels: Really fair. So the majority of Cosmo readers say that climate change is the most crucial issue for them, but only 4 percent say that you have the best argument of all the candidates that they’ve heard from. So, what can you tell them that will change their minds?



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Pete Buttigieg: Good, alright—now’s my chance! So we have a really thorough plan on what it’s going to take to deliver a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. But here’s the truth. And if you want to see the technical details of it, you can go to PeteForAmerica.com and see all of the different elements around renewable energy, transportation, industry, the steps that we’re going to have to take as a society to get this done.



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But having said that, everybody’s got a plan that says it will get us there by 2050. The real difference is whose plan can actually get it done? Because we can’t go on like this where something as fundamental, as dangerous, and as existential as the threat of climate change is being treated as something that you could be for or against. It would be like being for or against treating cancer. This is real. It is deadly. And we’ve got to come together and do something about it.

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And so one element of my plan is it reaches out to all Americans to play a role. I’m insisting that the military play a leadership role because the military is one of the biggest purchasers of fuel in the world. I’m urging rural America and proposing that we fund rural America to be part of the solution. Because there are a lot of new practices in farming with soil management, sustainable agriculture that could be a huge part of the solution. But we’ve got to put some resources behind actually developing that.

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And the idea is to reach out to a lot of Americans who maybe have been made to feel like they’re a part of the problem when it comes to climate change, but to invite them to be part of that new future we’re trying to build. This is only going to work if we do it together, and I’m insisting that we create a national project, something like the moon landing or the way that we’ve responded to security challenges and wars in the past, that mobilizes the entire American people to do something about this. It’s the only way to meet a challenge as big as the existential threat of global climate disruption.



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Jessica Pels: I think there’s an interesting distinction to be made there though. What do you think about the theory that the focus on the individual, the focus on each American buying reusable straws as opposed to using plastic straws—do you think that that has negatively impacted the larger climate change efforts at the corporate level?

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Pete Buttigieg: Yeah, I mean, it’s not a bad thing for each of us to be as sustainable as we can in our personal lives. But we can’t let policy makers off the hook. We can’t let corporations off the hook. It’s why we need big moves like a carbon tax and dividends. I’m proposing that we actually have a carbon pollution tax that reflects the true price of things in the economy. But then we can take the money that’s raised from that, we can rebate it out to the American people.

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Because it’s not about taking the money out of the economy. It’s about making sure that prices in our economy actually reflect the true cost of the things that we do. And this is just one example alongside research on renewable development, energy storage, or any number of other actions we’ve got to take where it’s just not going to get done unless we have leadership at the federal level.

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And by the way, the world can’t solve this problem without us, and we can’t solve this problem without the rest of the world. Remember, more than 80 percent of emissions come from other countries, which is why the United States also has to be a global leader. Not just things like rejoining the Paris Climate Accord—we’ve definitely got to do that. But really taking the world to the next level. And at a time when the world is kind of looking at the U.S. with suspicion, at a time when our credibility is in retreat, now’s actually a really good moment for us to show leadership on such a vitally important issue.



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Other Candidates Who Came to Cosmo: Bernie Sanders Watch the interview here Ruben Chamorro Cory Booker Watch the interview here Ruben Chamorro

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Jessica Pels: Your campaign just raised a reported $19.1 million in three months, after raising a reported $25 million in the previous quarter, which is quite a bit of money. Some of the other candidates refused to take money from certain groups, including major corporations, and our newest poll found that 71 percent of our readers say that it bothers them when candidates get money from Big Tech.



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News just broke, in fact, that Mark Zuckerberg is advising you on some of your hiring. So given that, will you talk us through why it’s okay for you to accept that kind of funding?

Pete Buttigieg: Okay, well, first of all, we don’t take corporate PAC money. Just want to make sure that’s clear. We do take contributions from individuals. About 600,000 individuals so far. And it’s everything from somebody going to PeteForAmerica.com and chipping in three bucks because they like something they saw that I said in a debate all the way through to these big events that we build. And the really important thing that we’ve got to recognize is that Donald Trump and his allies are going to pull out all of the stops in order to stay in power.



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We have to make sure that we are gathering all of the resources of everybody who shares a vision for a different, progressive, and better America and use it in order to win and defeat this president.



RUBEN CHAMORRO

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I don’t know the personal opinions of each of the 600,000 people who have supported this campaign financially. But hopefully, they know what I’m proposing to do for the country. And one thing that you do when you’re in office is you make decisions based on what is right that may or may not please all of your supporters. That’s part of what it is to be a mayor and that’s part of what it is to be a president.



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Jessica Pels: That’s part of what it is to be a boss too. I feel you. Okay, let’s open it up to a few questions from my editors. I know you’re tight on time, so we’ll be tight too. Let’s start with Emily Tannenbaum. Will you stand for us?

Emily Tannenbaum, entertainment editor: As a bisexual woman, the structure of the Supreme Court is a real concern to me, and you’ve proposed pretty drastic changes with the way it’s set up and how many people are on the bench. What specifically is the first thing you’d change and how would you do it?

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Pete Buttigieg: So this is something that’s very important to me in terms of the independence and the integrity of the Supreme Court. As you know, it’s especially important for LGBTQ rights, but it’s important for access to abortion and many other issues too. When I look at the Supreme Court, I can’t help but remember that my marriage only exists by the grace of a single vote in that body.

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Now, what I’m proposing that we do in terms of reform is to stop the descent of the Supreme Court into becoming yet another political body. This is not about making sure that it agrees with me on everything. My appointments will definitely be people who share my values. But when I’m talking about the structure of the Supreme Court, I’m talking about something deeper. I’m talking about depoliticizing the Supreme Court. Because right now, every time there’s a vacancy, there’s this apocalyptic ideological battle and it hurts the court and it hurts the country.

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So I’ve floated several ideas and deliberately kept some level of open-mindedness about which ones are going to work best. One of them would be to have 15 members, but 5 of them can only be seated if the other 10 unanimously agree. The idea here is you get more justices who think for themselves. Justices like Justice Kennedy or Justice Souter, and there are many legal scholars who think this could be done without a constitutional amendment under current law.

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Another approach would be to have term limits. You know, Supreme Court justices, they used to just retire like everybody else. But now, we have these strange scenarios of people clinging, almost seeming to cling on for dear life because they want to make sure that they leave the bench under the right presidency. And this would help deal with that issue. Someone suggested that we rotate judges on and off the appellate bench.

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The reason I’m introducing these very bold ideas is to elevate our imagination about them. But I’m not arriving in office saying I have the answer on this one. So the first step that I’ll do is to appoint a commission with this mission: Make the Supreme Court less political. Give us a road map to do that. And then based on their recommendations, I will go to Congress with a proposal. If absolutely necessary, we might have to have a conversation about an amendment, but I believe most of these reforms could be achieved within the framework of the current constitution.



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Jessica Pels: Great question. Madeleine?

Madeleine Reeves, contributing editor: Hi. So my question is: If you win the Democratic nomination and make it to the debate stage with Trump and he says something as an answer to a question that’s just a blatant lie, how do you respond?

Pete Buttigieg: You just say that it’s a lie and you tell the truth. But here’s the trick. He has a way of changing the subject, right? And just getting us to look at whatever he wants us to look at. Even if it’s something that’s got no bearing on our day-to-day lives. That’s how it felt when we learned that there might be a recession coming. And that week he got us all into an argument over whether the United States ought to buy Greenland. This is what he does best.



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And so the challenge and the discipline that’s going to be required in order to defeat him in an environment like that is, when he lies, to name the lie, to tell the truth, and to confront all the wrongdoing and yet not let him be the whole subject. So as soon as you’ve corrected that lie, we go right back to what our focus is, which is your life and how your life will be different under my presidency than it would be under four more years with him.

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That’s the discipline that’s going to be required of the nominee. And it’s why I’m always talking about the politics of everyday life. Because the good news is when the focus is on everyday life, whether it’s wages, the need for paid family leave, the right to access to abortion, even issues where our party has been on defense, guns or immigration, right now, the American people are with us. We just need to make sure we keep that focus strong.

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Jessica Pels: It’s interesting you say that—when Senator Sanders was here a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that focusing on Trump solely is a mistake because it takes the focus off of the American people who have problems that need solving.

Pete Buttigieg: Right.

Jessica Pels: That’s a great point. Okay. Lauren?

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Lauren Adhav, assistant editor: Hi. I saw on Twitter, in 2018, you said you strongly supported Medicare for All. You’ve now backed away from that stance. Why?

Pete Buttigieg: Yeah, so my stance hasn’t changed. Here’s what I believe: The long-run destination should probably be Medicare for All. Now, somewhere in the last few months, some politicians have decided that Medicare for All has to mean eliminating all private plans. I disagree with that. I think that we should allow people to keep their private plans if they want, because I think if the public alternative we create, I call it Medicare for All Who Want It, if that’s the right plan, then people are going to decide for themselves and cross over to it. And I trust you to make that choice.

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If the Medicare for All or Medicare for All Who Want It plan that I propose we create is the best one, then that will be a glide path toward a single payer environment. But I want there to be some humility in this process. And if it turns out that for some people, it’s not the right answer, fine. Then we’re going to be really glad we didn’t force them onto my plan.

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The term Medicare for All was originally popularized by Ted Kennedy more than 10 years ago. And what he was proposing was very similar to what I’ve been proposing all along. But they keep changing the terminology. I’m less interested in the terminology than this: making sure every American has care. Making sure that the public steps up, that we create that public Medicare plan that everybody can get into. And allowing Americans to choose what’s right for them rather than commanding them to leave a private plan whether they want to or not. That’s been my position from day one and it’s my position now.

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Jessica Pels: Thank you, guys—great questions! But I can’t let you go without just a few minutes of fun. So are you ready for our rapid-fire round?

Pete Buttigieg: Am I? Let’s find out.

Jessica Pels: As ready as you’ll ever be. How many alarms do you set in the morning?

Pete Buttigieg: These days, just once. Just one.

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Jessica Pels: Wow. I’m, like, a three-alarm person.

Pete Buttigieg: I’m a multiple snooze person, but the one alarm will do the trick.

Jessica Pels: Okay, alright. What is your Starbucks order?

Pete Buttigieg: A tall black coffee.

Jessica Pels: Have you ever had a pumpkin spice latte?

Pete Buttigieg: I have. Chasten is all about the pumpkin spice lattes. I’m not anti, it’s just not my—I know it’s a boring answer, but I just, black coffee. Maybe an espresso sometimes if I’m feeling really like I want to mix it up.

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Jessica Pels: What is your Moon sign?

Pete Buttigieg: [Whispers] What’s a Moon sign?

Jessica Pels: So your Moon sign is Virgo. We ran your birth chart before you got here. We’ll send it home with you. And it means that you love structure and find satisfaction in helping others.

Pete Buttigieg: That sounds about right.

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Jessica Pels: Great—astrology for the win. What is your guilty pleasure TV obsession?

Pete Buttigieg: Oh…there’s not enough time for me to have an obsession ’cause I can’t binge-watch like I used to. I’m getting into Succession. I’m struggling with it because I need somebody to root for and I’m not sure I’ve figured that out yet.

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Jessica Pels: How far into it are you?

Pete Buttigieg: I’m just getting into the second season....

Jessica Pels: Huh.

Pete Buttigieg: Don’t spoil me here! Shiv is showing a lot of promise…um, alright. I’m just going to stop here so I don’t get spoiled. But yeah, I definitely enjoy that.

Jessica Pels: Love it. Okay, we’ll let you watch it without spoiling the rest. Who is your best friend and how did you meet?

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Pete Buttigieg: Wow. I have some really good friends that I hesitate to, like, name one of them as best. The answer is supposed to be your spouse, obviously, and he’s the most important person in my life, but also, in a way, it’s different from what I think a lot of us think of when we think “best friend.” The best man at my wedding, his name is Nathaniel. He and I go back to college days. He’s really involved in international development and he has a knack for convincing me to go on adventures. We went to Somalia once as tourists, which, turns out, there are some reasons why people don’t do that, which we found when we got there. But he’s just been a great friend. During the coming-out process, he was somebody who was really there for me and somebody I can turn to among just a bunch of really fantastic friends in my life.

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Jessica Pels: That’s amazing. I’m sure you don’t get to see them as much as you wish you did right now because you’re on the road. What is your favorite junk food?

Pete Buttigieg: Oh, does beef jerky count as junk food?

Jessica Pels: Yes! I love beef jerky.

Pete Buttigieg: But it’s kind of nutritious, right? It’s all protein.

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Jessica Pels: It’s protein. Yes. It’s not horrible for you. A little high on sodium, but you could do worse.

Pete Buttigieg: We’re going to go with that.

Jessica Pels: Okay. What is the most Midwest thing about you?

Pete Buttigieg: Oh, interesting. The fact that all my shirts are the same kind of shirt, maybe?

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Jessica Pels: You open your closet and it’s just all button-downs.

Pete Buttigieg: It is. It’s white shirts.

Jessica Pels: Yeah, I think that counts. Do you have a Halloween costume?

Pete Buttigieg: Oh, no. That’s coming up, isn’t it?

Jessica Pels: Next Thursday.

Pete Buttigieg: Really?

Jessica Pels: Yeah.

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Pete Buttigieg: Wow. No, I guess I’ll just go as Mayor Pete.

Jessica Pels: That’s a good one. And our now-famous question: What is your skincare routine?

Pete Buttigieg: Um, I take a shower every day. I use soap.

Jessica Pels: On your face?

Pete Buttigieg: Yeah, a little bit.

Jessica Pels: Okay....

Pete Buttigieg: Is that bad?

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Jessica Pels: Eh, it’s drying.

Pete Buttigieg: Ah, right. I shave. Sometimes I use aftershave. This is probably not the answer that you were looking for—

Jessica Pels: Do you moisturize?

Pete Buttigieg: Occasionally. Aftershave counts, right?

Jessica Pels: No. Right? No, it doesn’t.

Pete Buttigieg: But, like, the lotion type that you kind of rub in there?

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Jessica Pels: No. No. You’re supposed to moisturize. You’re running a campaign for president. I’m running a campaign for getting men to moisturize.

Pete Buttigieg: Alright. I’ll try to moisturize more.

Jessica Pels: We’ll send you home with some of that too.

Pete Buttigieg: Sounds good.

Jessica Pels: Thank you so much for being here today. This was awesome.

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Pete Buttigieg: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

This is an edited transcript of their full conversation.