Mayor Pete Guts Trump at Debate: World Leaders Look at Him with ‘Contempt and Pity’
South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg delivered a scorching assessment of President Donald Trump’s position on the world stage, telling the debate audience that heads of state don’t just mock Trump, they view him with “contempt and pity.”
At Thursday night’s Democratic presidential debate, the candidates were asked to weigh in on Trump’s foreign policy, particularly with regard to Israel.
“What we are seeing in the Middle East and around the world are the consequences of this president’s failure, this president’s refusal to lead,” Buttigieg began, as he slammed Trump for “making US foreign policy choices in order to effectively interfere in Israeli domestic politics, acting as though that somehow makes him pro-israel and pro-Jewish, while welcoming white nationalists into the White House.”
He then pivoted to Trump’s broader foreign affairs footprint, saying that allies and adversaries are “making plans on what to do, ignoring the United States because we’re no longer considered reliable.”
“It’s not just the mockery at a cocktail party on the sidelines of a conference, it was the looks on the faces of the leaders at the U.N. as they looked at the United States president with a mixture of contempt and pity,” Buttigieg continued. “As an American, I never again want to see the American president looked at that way by the leaders of the world.”
“The world needs America right now,” he said, and concluded by adding “But it can’t be just any America, it has to be one that is actually living up to the values that make us who we are. Supporting peace, supporting democracy, supporting human rights and supporting stability around the world.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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