Geraldo Rivera says Mayor Pete Buttigieg has 'flamboyant ideas' on 'Fox & Friends'

Geraldo Rivera gave his thoughts on the current crop of 2020 presidential hopefuls on Friday’s Fox & Friends, turning some heads when he described South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s ideas as “flamboyant.”

“I think Beto [O'Rourke] is finished,” Rivera said while running through a list of candidates. “I think Mayor Pete dusted him off. If you wanted to go that way, if you wanted to go with the young buckaroo with flamboyant ideas and an aggressive point of view, maybe you go with Mayor Pete who has demonstrated success in South Bend.”

Viewers on Twitter thought Rivera’s use of “flamboyant” to describe the openly gay candidate was a “dog whistle.”

In Rivera’s overall assessment of the 2020 Democratic candidate field, he also said that Sen. Kamala Harris has a better chance in the race than Sen. Bernie Sanders, who he says has plateaued. And Rivera took a jab at Joe Biden’s age — he will be 78 after Election Day 2020 — while comparing him to President Trump.

“One of the things about Donald Trump is, for a 72-year-old guy, he bounds up on the stage. He has tremendous energy. He kisses anybody wants to be kissed. High-fiving everybody,” Rivera said. “Joe Biden, unfortunately, kisses people who don’t necessarily want to be kissed.”

Check out how The View and Fox & Friends reacted to Joe Biden’s candidacy announcement:

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