Buttigieg discusses impeaching Trump, South Bend police tapes, more at CNN Town Hall

MANCHESTER, N.H., -- South Bend mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg spoke to young voters Monday night at a series of back-to-back town halls moderated by CNN.

Buttigieg was one of five Democratic presidential hopefuls who answered questions from a crowded room full of college students and young New Hampshire democrats.

The mayor addressed a wide range of issues like whether or not he supports impeaching President Trump to more local issues like the South Bend police tapes controversy.

Buttigieg told the audience he believes it’s “pretty clear that he [President Trump] deserves impeachment” in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

However, Buttigieg indicated he won’t push impeachment on the campaign trail.

“I’m also going to leave it to the House and Senate to figure that out,” said Buttigieg. “My role in the process is trying to relegate Trumpism to the dustbin of history, and I think there’s no more decisive way to do that, especially to get Republicans to abandon this kind of deal with the devil they made than to have just an absolute thumping at the ballot box for what it represents.”

Buttigieg also answered questions about the South Bend police tapes controversy.

When asked what is on the tapes by a student, Buttigieg said he did not know and has never listened to the tapes because they make have violated federal laws.

Buttigieg said as a result of the ongoing controversy, he realized for many people in South Bend, the central issue was whether they could trust their police department. He said he’s worked to restore that trust during his time in office.

The South Bend mayor disagreed with other candidates in his party. Buttigieg said prisoners should not be allowed to vote while incarcerated.

Buttigieg defended his 1,000 homes in 1,000 days project. It has received criticism over the past few weeks. Some people believe it negatively impacted communities of color in South Bend.

Buttigieg said he views the project as a success, but he added no policy is perfect. He said his administration learned over time to be “more accommodating” with homeowners.

Moderator Anderson Cooper also pressed Buttigieg on the lack of a policy page on his campaign’s website. Cooper said it made it hard for voters to compare Buttigieg’s stance on policies with other candidates.

Buttigieg said his team is working on it, but he believes he’s been clear on where he stands on major issues.

“It’s important that we not drown people in minutia before we vindicated the values that animate our policies because it's Democrats that this is a habit that we have,” said Buttigieg. “We go right to the policy proposals and we expect people to be able to figure out what our values must be from that. I expect that it will be very easy and clear to tell where I stand on every specific policy challenge of our time, but I'm going to take the time to lay that out while also talking about values and everyday impacts.”

#ButtigiegTownHall was trending worldwide Tuesday morning. Social media users posted their thoughts on Buttigieg’s Q&A session.

To read more about Buttigieg’s Town Hall click here.