Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was among those condemning Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this week after a widely decried interview at a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists. Perhaps getting the most attention out of any of his remarks, Trump said in the discussion that Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black,” suggesting that she was being deceptive and/or conniving in identifying herself as such, though her father is from Jamaica.
“Remember that all of this is a strategy. The politics of outrage and insult are the last refuge of a politician who cannot defend his own plans,” said Buttigieg on social media.
Buttigieg, already known as outspoken, has been floated as a possibility for Harris’ running mate in this year’s election as the latter continues in her new role as Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee for the year. Harris became Democrats’ presidential torchbearer after the recent withdrawal from this year’s election of President Joe Biden, who endorsed Harris to take his place as Democrats’ expected pick.
There was only a brief period of real uncertainty after that point about who Democrats would be putting forward for the general election in Biden’s absence. Harris quickly assembled the support needed from Democratic convention delegates to head towards the nomination, and many of the party figures who might have challenged the nation’s second-in-command for the party’s nod opted to endorse her instead. The latter list includes a slew of Democratic governors, including California’s Gavin Newsom, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, and Andy Beshear in Kentucky — some of whom are also prospects for Harris’ running mate.
Trump was also questioned at that convention about some of his past tirades against targets including former President Barack Obama and a group of Congresswomen of color — and Republicans’ nominee sounded furious at the questioning. “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” he complained.
