South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Ottumwa, Iowa. His campaign is releasing radio ads to rural Iowa that ding President Donald Trump as too focused on the stock market. | John Locher/AP Photo 2020 Elections Buttigieg launches radio ads targeting rural Iowa

Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign is releasing a pair of radio ads targeting rural voters in Iowa.

The ads, obtained by POLITICO, will start airing Tuesday, ahead of Buttigieg's next campaign visit to Iowa on Wednesday.


The radio spots ding President Donald Trump as too focused on the stock market and not enough on rural America. In one ad, called "Fabric," Buttigieg says, "If you listen to President Trump, you’d think the only thing that matters for our economy is whether the stock market had a good day or a bad day. That’s his priority."

The South Bend, Ind., mayor then ticks through the recent drop in net farm income, rural hospital shortages, and mental health and opioid challenges before saying: "This reckless trade war is tearing apart the very fabric of rural America. And while subsidies might soften the blows temporarily, they can’t repair the permanent damage being done to family farms."

In the second ad, "The Trail," Buttigieg highlights his recently released plan for rural America.

"This month, I released my plan for lifting up rural America — the small towns and farming communities that surround places like my hometown in South Bend but that never seem to get much attention from the folks in Washington," Buttigieg says.

Buttigieg also highlights his plan for veterans in the ad.

"As a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, I saw firsthand the sacrifice made by those in uniform ... and I noticed how many of them came from places that look a lot more like South Bend than the big coastal cities," Buttigieg says. "It’s one reason that the Buttigieg plan will expand opportunities for veterans — providing those who’ve served with two weeks of training on what it takes to start a small business ... followed by a $10,000 grant to help transform a good idea into a successful company."