South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, on Thursday called for the abolition of the Electoral College.

"Well, first of all, we've got to repair our democracy. The Electoral College needs to go because it's made our society less and less democratic," Buttigieg told CBS' "This Morning" when asked about his policy priorities should he win the White House next year. "First we've got to explain our values and explain why Democrats are, are committed to freedom, to democracy, to security. That democracy piece has to be fixed before anything else will go well in this country."

Buttigieg, 37, last week announced that he had formed a presidential exploratory committee.

The Harvard-educated Rhodes Scholar, who served in Afghanistan as a Naval Reserve officer, also told CBS on Thursday it was time for the U.S. to leave the war-torn country. But he added that the exit of U.S. troops needed to be planned as not to "leave us vulnerable" in the region.


In a separate interview on CBS News, Buttigieg blasted the Trump administration for sending military personnel to the U.S.-Mexico border to deal with the arrival of a migrant caravan.

"This is certainly not the kind of thing I signed up for when I signed up to be in the military," he said.


Buttigieg's media blitz coincides with the release of his memoir, “Shortest Way Home," on Feb. 12.