Pete Buttigieg hammers Trump at Iowa town hall amid 2028 presidential speculation

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took aim at the Trump administration in an Iowa town hall and discussed the Democratic Party's path forward — amid speculation about a potential Democratic presidential bid of his own in 2028.

Buttigieg opened his remarks at the event, hosted in Cedar Rapids by the progressive group VoteVets Action Fund, by saying that progressives, conservatives, and libertarians should be able to unite around the an understanding that freedom "means freedom from overbearing government."

"At a moment when the president of the United States thinks he could send you to another country, or shut down the broadcast license of a TV station, if he doesn’t like what it has to say — that is not freedom," Buttigieg said.

During a Q&A session with attendees, Buttigieg fielded questions on subjects including the Trump administration threatening to suspend habeas corpus, contending that lawmakers who have been silent figure they "have more to fear from the president of the United States than the people of the United States.”

"I am convinced that members of Congress and the president’s party know that this is wrong," Buttigieg said, while urging audience members to grab lawmakers' attention in peaceful ways, as many Republicans shy away from holding town halls.

Responding to a question about due process, Buttigieg criticized the Trump administration over its failure to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador in March.

"One person, least of all, no one politician, gets to decide that you’re a criminal," Buttigieg said.

President Donald Trump has said he “could” arrange for Abrego Garcia’s return with a phone call, contrasting claims his administration has made in court that it cannot get him back.

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Buttigieg also offered some criticism to Democrats mounting a "hang back" approach to dealing with some of Trump's policies, when asked about the prospects for Democrats pushing back on the president and his allies.

"There’s this theory out there that if we just kind of hang back, don’t do much, then the people in charge today will screw it up, and then they’ll get blamed for it and then we’ll win," Buttigieg said. "I disagree. First of all, while I agree that they will screw it up, I disagree that we should let them. And I also disagree that they will be blamed for it. They may not be good at governing but they are really good at allocating blame."

Iowa bears significance for Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg won the most delegates in the Iowa caucuses in the 2020 Democratic presidential nominating contest, part of a rapid rise before he eventually dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden. In 2021, he became the first openly gay person to be confirmed as a Cabinet secretary, in then-President Biden's administration.

Buttigieg in March passed on a run for governor or the U.S. Senate next year in Michigan, where he now lives with his family.

A source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking previously told NBC News that foregoing a bid for Senate or governor poised Buttigieg to best position himself for a presidential campaign 2028.

Buttigieg said during a Substack interview earlier on Tuesday that “any kind of decision process there is a long way off,” when asked about a potential presidential bid. He also noted that in past decisions to run he's made a point to “assess the office and what it calls for,” and “assess what I bring to the table,” before mounting a campaign.