Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg will participate in a live Fox News town hall next month, the network said on Tuesday morning.
The event will take place in Claremont, New Hampshire on May 19, between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. ET, according to Fox News. The town hall will be moderated by longtime anchor Chris Wallace, who will be hosting his first event of the 2020 election cycle.
Buttigieg, best known by his nickname “Mayor Pete,” has rocketed near the top of the Democratic race in the last month. A Monmouth University poll shows Buttigieg now tied with Sen. Kamala Harris from California for third place behind ex-Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, respectively. The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana — for those that don’t know about him — is a Harvard grad and former naval officer. Buttigieg is also one of the first openly gay presidential candidates, with his husband, Chasten, joining him frequently on the campaign trail.
“We look forward to hosting Mayor Buttigieg in New Hampshire and again showcasing our first-in-class journalism and election coverage,” Fox News President Jay Wallace said in a statement.
Buttigieg stands apart from his other Democratic counterparts by openly talking about his Christian faith — something he discussed recently on “Real Time with Bill Maher.” A relative unknown in a growing field, Buttigieg’s opponents have been sent “scrambling” to find dirt on him, according to NBC News.
When CNN’s Anderson Cooper pointed out during a recent town hall his campaign website is missing a policy section like other candidates, Buttigieg said it’s important to not get bogged down on little details right now.
“We’ll continue to roll out specific policy proposals, too,” Buttigieg added. “But I also think it’s important we don’t drown people in minutiae before we’ve vindicated the values that animate our policies.”
Fox News has already hosted several town halls featuring 2020 Democratic candidates. The network pulled in nearly 2 million viewers for its event with former Starbucks chief Howard Schultz, and its town hall with Sanders pulled in about 2.5 million viewers. Another town hall with Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota is scheduled for May 8.