Indiana Democrat Pete Buttigieg slammed President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying that it was too late for him to not be a white nationalist. The South Bend mayor added that Trump must take responsibility for the latest hate crimes in the United States, The Hill reported.
“It’s too late for him not to be a white nationalist, and to not bear some responsibility for what’s happened here,” Buttigieg told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day.”
Buttigieg’s comments come as a result of the mass shootings over the past weekend in which 31 people were killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
“What he could do is refrain from divisive and politicizing rhetoric, and focus on making something happen,” he continued. “How about some action? I remember his inaugural speech where he said American carnage stops right now. I remember back when he said he was going to actually do something about guns before the NRA [National Rifle Association] put him in his place and reminded him that he’s not allowed to say that.”
“Ordinarily… [a mayor] would automatically welcome a visit from a President of either party,” Mayor Pete Buttigieg says about lawmakers asking the President to cancel his planned visit to El Paso. “We’ve got a President right now who is incapable of bringing people together.”
The suspected gunman in the El Paso shooting allegedly drafted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before the attack, which described fears of a Latino “invasion.”
Trump implored the country to “condemn bigotry, hatred and white supremacy” at the White House on Monday, but his critics have laid blame on his rhetoric.
In the wake of the mass shootings, Buttigieg released a $1bn plan that aims at preventing domestic violence.
“He [Trump] could, I don’t have high expectations, but he could take a turn and actually do something about the problem,” Buttigieg said. “I’m not waiting on this president. It’s why we have put out an action plan.”
“There are policy actions, political actions, civic actions that we can be taking right now,” he said.
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