[When you’ve lost The Hill . . . ]

Buttigieg Campaign Mocked for Adding Applause to CNN Town Hall Clip
The Hill | 2/8/20 | Joe Concha

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign was mocked Friday for editing a clip from a CNN town hall that included inserting fake applause after a remark made by the 38-year-old presidential candidate.

“To me, that is not just a concern for our generation, it’s a concern that calls on us to build an alliance among generations to try to make sure that the future really is better than the past,” Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., said in answering a question from an audience member in New Hampshire.

In the live CNN event on Thursday night, Buttigieg’s answer did not compel the audience at Saint Anselm College to break into applause.

But in a clip shared by the campaign on social media, applause was added.

THE PRESIDENT: I love the state of Iowa. We just did very well in Iowa, by the way. We set a record, but nobody talks about that. What they do talk about — the fact is the Democrats don’t know what the hell they’re doing. (Laughter and applause.) It’s true.

Mark just got back. You know, I’m watching — because you have to see these campaigns. You know, they’ll spend $20-, $25 million, let’s say, on average — but it’s really more than that. And they go out, they work, and they work. They’ve been campaigning there for weeks.

They even had to leave the impeachment hearing. (Laughter.) I said, “Keep them here. You’ll get a real fast settlement.” But they couldn’t do it. (Laughter.)

But, they go out and they work and they spend tens — I mean, just millions — hundreds of millions of dollars. And the only thing they didn’t check: to see whether or not the app worked. (Laughter.) It didn’t; it fried all votes. They’re all fried.
…

So now you have about — (applause) — now you have all these people fighting. “And I was first.” “No, I was first.” They’re taking samples. They’re doing the vote by sample. “We got 2 percent of the vote. Let’s see who won.” (Laughter.)

And it turned out to be Pete Buttigieg, whoever the hell that is. Mayor Pete. (Laughter.) Mayor Pete. (Applause.) Explain that one to me. Someday you’re going — you’re going to explain that one to me, right? (Laughter.) Right? You. You people. (Laughter.)

No, did you ever see anything so crazy? They can’t count simple votes, but they want to fix your healthcare system. (Laughter.) No, think of it.