South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg reiterated his belief on Fox News Sunday that President Trump is condoning white nationalism, following the two deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
Comparing the president to former KKK leader David Duke, Buttigieg told Fox News host Chris Wallace, “There is no question that white nationalism is condoned at the highest level of our government. When this kind of rhetoric happened 20 years ago when David Duke tried to run for office as a Republican, the Republican Party was horrified. They couldn’t run away fast enough.”
Chris asks @PeteButtigieg if he thinks President Trump bears some responsibility for these shootings, he says these people feel validated all the way from the top #FNS #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/NKugBTCny5
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) August 4, 2019
Buttigieg similarly told reporters at the AFSCME forum in Las Vegas on Saturday, “The president of the United States is condoning white nationalism. White nationalism is one of the evils that is motivating and inspiring at least some people to go kill Americans. The president has a responsibility to nip that in the bud.”
“Any president and any leader in any country has a responsibility, at least in our language and eventually in our policy if elected, to nip that in the bud because it is putting American lives at risk,” he added.
Buttigieg told reporters he is considering a proposal to put forth an anti-radicalization program targeting white nationalism in the United States.
“We need to be ready for that and we’ll scope that out appropriately based on the conditions on the ground but if we’re serious about national security we’ve got to be serious about this.”
