Pete Buttigieg mocks “tough” Trump for pulling out of debate with Kamala Harris

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg dismantled Donald Trump on Friday over reports that the former president and convicted felon is considering dropping out of a long-planned debate with his Democratic opponent in September — because his opponent is now Kamala Harris instead of former President Joe Biden.

“It’s extraordinary. Tough talk is this guy’s calling card, and there’s this extraordinary show of weakness,” Buttigieg said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe earlier today.

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Sam Stein, an MSNBC contributor and editor at The Bulwark reported earlier that the Trump camp says the Republican nominee is backing out of the debates. The next debate was scheduled for September 10 on the ABC TV network.

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“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” the Trump campaign said. “There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party – namely Barack Hussein Obama – that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone ‘better.’ Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.”

Obama announced his endorsement of Harris on Friday morning.

Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in… pic.twitter.com/0UIS0doIbA

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2024

Buttigieg said in the interview that Trump pulling out indicates “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,” he said of a Harris-Trump match-up.

Pete Buttigieg on Morning Joe on Trump backpedaling on debating Harris: "It's extraordinary. Tough talk is this guy's calling card, and there's this extraordinary show of weakness." pic.twitter.com/RKHD8j3xny

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 26, 2024

The Trump campaign “really has struggled to be about anything but Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and 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,” he added.

“Think about it. Just in a matter of two or three days, our campaign adapted to literally the biggest possible change, which is a change in the top of the ticket,” Buttigieg explained. “They, meanwhile, have been flailing in a way that shows they’re unable to adapt. And to me, it’s not just that their entire strategic apparatus was built around tearing down Joe Biden. I think there’s something deeper, which is Donald Trump cannot conceive of a campaign that isn’t about the candidate.”

“We’re obviously very excited about our candidate,” Buttigieg added. “Kamala Harris is a leader that everybody is pulling together around, but also, she’s articulating a message that isn’t about just about herself, and certainly isn’t just about Donald Trump — although she has that contrast down. It’s about us, and that’s the kind of campaign that that wins. It’s the right kind of campaign, and it’s also one that literally does not compute for somebody like Donald Trump.”

Harris weighed in on Trump’s backing out in a Thursday post on X.

“Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage,” wrote the presumptive Democratic nominee. “I’m ready. So let’s go.”

Trump agreed on a September 10th debate.

It now appears he's backpedaling.

Voters deserve to see the split screen that exists on a debate stage.

I'm ready. So let's go.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 25, 2024

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