Overview

• Pete Buttigieg told The Bulwark podcast that reopening schools faster during the COVID-19 pandemic would have reduced long-term costs to a generation.
• Journalist Taylor Lorenz posted on X that his stance equated to “killing MORE vulnerable ppl faster” and branded it “far right eugenics.”
• Social media responses split between users condemning Buttigieg’s hindsight critique as reckless and those ridiculing Lorenz’s portrayal as hyperbolic.
• Lorenz claimed Mediaite hired a right-wing writer to stalk her social feeds and generate critical coverage.
• The confrontation highlights broader Democratic debates over public health decisions and raises questions about journalistic ethics in pandemic reporting.