Buttigieg Roasts Trump for ‘Backpedaling’ on Kamala Harris Debate: ‘Extraordinary Show of Weakness’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg taunted Donald Trump on Friday, accusing him of being “afraid” to debate Vice President Kamala Harris.
Buttigieg, one of the rumored top picks to be Harris’s running partner in November, joined Morning Joe on Friday and mocked Trump over his non-commitment to a debate with Harris in September. The vice president is currently the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, but she’s secured the necessary delegates.
“Tough talk is this guy’s calling card,” Buttigieg told Jonathan Lemire about Trump, “and now there’s this extraordinary show of weakness… he said anytime, anyplace, but more than that, he agreed to this specific debate, on this specific network, on this specific date, and now he’s pulling out. It shows that he’s afraid.”
Trump’s campaign announced this week that the former president will not currently commit to any debates with Harris, claiming Democrats could still “change their minds.”
President Joe Biden and Trump had previously agreed to two debates, the first of which aired on CNN last month. The second was set for September on ABC News.
“What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” Harris wrote on X in response to the Trump campaign’s statement on the debate.
What happened to “any time, any place”? https://t.co/HlR6UmlZxx
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
Harris told reporters on Thursday that Trump is “backpedaling” on a previously agreed-to debate.
Buttigieg could end up in a debate himself with Trump’s running mate JD Vance should he end up being Harris’s vice presidential pick.
“She’s going to make that decision, and she knows what she’s doing,” Buttigieg said on Friay about the VP rumors. “What I know is that I am really excited in whatever capacity to be part of this campaign.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
