Buttigieg distances himself from his McKinsey consulting days
The consulting firm built business experience for Buttigieg but has fallen down his resume amid public controversy.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/30/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey-consulting-061626
For nearly three years, he worked at McKinsey & Company, an elite management consulting firm with offices around the world. It was work that took him, he has said, to Iraq and Afghanistan. And for years after that, in his early campaigns for public office, Buttigieg held up his stint at McKinsey as a selling point and proof that he was a business-friendly Democrat, while only vaguely describing what he did and never revealing his clients.
A deeper understanding of his time there a decade ago would be relevant to evaluating the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who’s now trying to prove he has the experience to be president. But Buttigieg continues to keep most details a secret, citing a confidentiality agreement. He also now describes the job — which informed his views on business issues — as “not something that I think is essential in my story.”
McKinsey has become known for working with authoritarian regimes and taking on other ethically complicated projects. A New York Times report last year focused on its work for governments or state-owned companies in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. A recent lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company that makes OxyContin raised questions about the firm’s role in perpetuating the opioid crisis.
Other White House contenders have seen their private sector work scrutinized. Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who entered the Democratic race this week, already is answering for his work at Bain Capital — the same private equity firm that tripped up Republican Mitt Romney during his 2012 run. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has disclosed the names of companies she advised as a bankruptcy lawyer and consultant, and she’s been scrutinized in the press and by some of her rivals for the particulars of that work.
The secrecy around Buttigieg’s work with McKinsey runs counter to a presidential bid he and his advisers have built around accessibility and transparency. Buttigieg has been inviting reporters to join him for long stretches on his campaign bus and ask any questions. No subject is off-limits, and McKinsey is a popular one. But Buttigieg offers little that isn’t already public. He issued a gentle criticism of the firm’s recent work during a September tour of Iowa.