Pete Buttigieg Tells ‘The View’ Trump Comment on Harris’ Race Was Strategic: ‘He Did It for a Very Specific Reason’
Pete Buttigieg joined “The View,” where the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and veepstakes candidate said Friday Donald Trump’s recent comments about Kamala Harris’ race were “for a reason.”
Trump’s chances at winning the presidency are slim to none if the election ends up focusing on him and Vice President Kamala Harris’ plans for the country, Buttigieg said.
The politician shared his two cents about the state of the campaign season and candidates’ tactics so far, specifically addressing Trump questioning Harris’ racial identity during the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention on Wednesday. Cohost Sunny Hostin asked Buttigieg if Trump’s remarks would ultimately be a “losing strategy” for the GOP party’s republican nominee.
“If the election is about the candidates’ plans for Americans, he will lose, which is why he’s going to do everything he can without inflammatory and divisive language to change the subject. [Harris is] not going to let him.”
.@PeteButtigieg calls the racist and sexist comments towards Vice Pres. Kamala Harris "disgusting."
— The View (@TheView) August 2, 2024
"She didn't let it divert her from focusing on what she is going to do to make us all better off. Because the truth is, this is a strategy on [Trump's] part." pic.twitter.com/tN0gYJx22a
He continued: “The truth is, this is a strategy on his part. He didn’t just go blurt out racist remarks in an auditorium full of Black journalists for no reason. He did it for a very specific reason, which is to change the subject. He cannot afford for this election to be about the candidate’s plans for our lives, because his plans, like cutting taxes for the rich, again, just like he did the first time, or cutting down on women’s freedoms, building on what he already did in destroying a woman’s right to choose. These are not things he can defend.”
Trump’s comments fall in line with a slew of others that have come from several members of the Republican Party, many of whom have referred to Harris as a “DEI hire” or claimed Hillary Clinton only endorsed Harris “obviously because she’s a woman.”
In response to Trump saying Harris “happened to turn Black” during the NABJ conference, Buttigieg said the comment is “disgusting.”
Harris’ camp addressed Trump in a statement following Trump’s sit-down.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler wrote in a press statement.
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency — while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,” he continued. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on Sept. 10.”
Buttigieg says Harris’ clapback was right on the mark.
“And her response, I think, is pitch perfect,” Buttigieg said. “She spoke to it, she condemned it. She challenged him to say it to her face, which he’s clearly afraid to do because he backed out of the debate. But she didn’t let it divert her from focusing on what she is going to do to make us all better off.”
The post Pete Buttigieg Tells ‘The View’ Trump Comment on Harris’ Race Was Strategic: ‘He Did It for a Very Specific Reason’ appeared first on TheWrap.