Buttigieg campaign mocked for adding applause to CNN town hall clip

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign was mocked Friday for editing a clip from a CNN town hall that included inserting fake applause after a remark made by the 38-year-old presidential candidate.

“To me, that is not just a concern for our generation, it’s a concern that calls on us to build an alliance among generations to try to make sure that the future really is better than the past,” Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., said in answering a question from an audience member in New Hampshire.

In the live CNN event on Thursday night, Buttigieg’s answer did not compel the audience at Saint Anselm College to break into applause.

But in a clip shared by the campaign on social media, applause was added.

The audio edit was flagged by the Center for Democracy Action, a group that supports Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Pete Buttigieg steals elections from the multiracial working class AND inserts artificial audience applause into his videos. This guy as fake AF, not a true progressive with liberal values, at all, and the DNC is racist AF. #PeteOnCNN https://t.co/6b8CVMCVY4

— The DNC is Racist AF (@BookDevouress) February 7, 2020

Buttigieg and Sanders, 78, just finished in a dead heat in Iowa, with both sides declaring victory in a contest marred by delays, errors and inconsistencies.

The campaign received some blowback after the clip made the rounds on social media from supporters of Sanders.

The Hill has reached out to the Buttigieg campaign for comment.