ATLANTA — Democratic presidential candidates say that rather than eyeing purchasing Greenland, attention should be directed toward Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., statehood, and climate change.
Trump has floated the possibility of purchasing Greenland, a Danish territory, to many of his advisers, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Representatives for Greenland, in response, said that it is not for sale.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro said that the idea of buying Greenland is “off the beaten path” and not a priority for the U.S.
“If we want to do something, we should make sure that the island of Puerto Rico is invested in and well taken care of, and as they recover from Hurricane Maria and they have to deal with this austerity that is choking the ability of people to get a good education and to prosper,” Castro told the Washington Examiner Friday.
South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg also directed focus toward Puerto Rico, adding in advocacy for D.C. statehood.
“If we’re talking about territories, let’s make sure that the people of D.C. actually get senators, let’s make sure that the people of Puerto Rico are actually treated like the fellow U.S. citizens that they are, and let’s make sure that we have some handle on financial future of this country, then maybe we can talk about whether there’s any other territory to add or subtract,” Buttigieg told the Washington Examiner. “Greenland is not our problem right now. The American economy is our problem right now.”
Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang said in a tweet Wednesday night that the U.S. should fix Puerto Rico before it buys Greenland.
[Related: Trump can’t buy Greenland, but it is crucial to US national security]
Before we buy Greenland we should take care of Puerto Rico.
— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) August 16, 2019
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s campaign created a website, IsGreenlandForSale.com, in response to news about Trump wanting to buy Greenland. “Whether you’re in kindergarten or you’re the leader of the free world, this website should help you get to the bottom of it in no time,” a Bullock campaign press release said Friday. The website answers the question, “no,” and directs viewers to donate a dollar to Bullock’s presidential campaign.
Candidates appeared exasperated at yet another Trump proposal that seemed to come out of left field driving the news cycle.
“These are the absurdities of who’s in office right now,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker told the Washington Examiner, expressing frustration at “this reality TV show that is the White House right now.”
“This country has real problems, real issues, and one of them is the urgency, the existential threat of the climate crisis right now,” Booker said. “Greenland is an area that’s seeing incredible signs that scientists — as radical as that concept is for our country — that science is showing that we have a very real crisis and a very short window to solve it.”
“It’s almost a classic example of, ‘Look over there,'” Buttigieg said. “While we’ve got an economy that is teetering on the brink — it wasn’t working for a lot of us to begin with when it was growing, now may on the cusp of shrinking, and the president wants us all talking about Greenland.”
Castro, Buttigieg, and Booker spoke at a Young Leadership Conference presidential forum hosted in partnership with the Black Church PAC in Atlanta on Friday. An estimated 5,000 millennials registered for the conference, while over a thousand appeared to be in attendance at the forum.
