Pete Buttigieg taunted former president Donald Trump for backpedaling on a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, with the Transportation Secretary and running-mate hopeful calling the move an “extraordinary show of weakness.”
“Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire mentioned that the Republican Party has appeared rattled by the last-minute candidate switch-up, noting that Trump has been cagey about his participation in a previously scheduled September debate with ABC News.
“General election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a recent statement. “It would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds,” he said, leaving the door open for Trump to back out.
When asked about the recent backpedaling, Buttigieg said, “Tough talk is this guy’s calling card, and now there’s this extraordinary show of weakness.”
“He said anytime, anyplace,” Buttigieg continued. “More than that, he agreed to this specific debate on this specific network on this specific date, and now he is pulling out.”
The Harris campaign also responded by invoking Trump’s own words, which he used to goad Biden into agreeing to a June debate that altered the course of the entire election.
What happened to “any time, any place”? https://t.co/HlR6UmlZxx
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 26, 2024
The Biden administration appointee added: “It shows that he’s afraid. It shows that he knows if the two of them are on a stage together, it’s not going to end well for him.”
“This is a campaign that really has struggled to be about anything but Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Buttigieg said. “I think that’s the bigger pattern that you’re seeing here and part of why the Trump campaign is having such a hard time adapting.”
Buttigieg highlighted the almost immediate coalescence of Democrats around Harris in the days following Biden’s shocking withdrawal, compared to the GOP who he said “have been flailing in a way that shows they’re unable to adapt.”
Buttigieg, who is rumored to be on the short list of candidates being considered as Harris’ running-mate, was coy when asked about the prospect of joining Harris’ administration in that capacity but said, “I think anybody would be flattered to be mentioned in that context. I certainly am.”
“There’s not much more I can or should say about that process, other than that she’s going to make that decision,” Buttigieg continued. “She knows what she’s doing. What I know is that I’m really excited in whatever capacity to be part of this campaign.”
