Pete Buttigieg points out 'very specific reason' Trump has been attacking Kamala Harris' racial identity

WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg weighed in on Donald Trump's recent remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity during his appearance on 'The View' on Friday, August 2.

The Democrat argued that the former president's comments were made "for a reason" and were part of the GOP's broader strategy to shift focus away from substantive policy discussions.

Pete Buttigieg says Donald Trump's racial attacks on Kamala Harris are meant to divert attention from his policy failures

Pete Buttigieg, a likely VP pick for the Democratic nominee, noted that if the election centers around Donald Trump and Kamala Harris' respective visions for the country, the former president's prospects for victory are bleak.

He even suggested that the GOP nominee's attempt to question Harris’ racial identity at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention was a deliberate tactic to divert attention from his own policy failures.

"If the election is about the candidates’ plans for Americans, he will lose, which is why he’s going to do everything he can with inflammatory and divisive language to change the subject. [Harris is] not going to let him," said Buttigieg.

He elaborated, "The truth is, this is a strategy on his part. He didn’t just go blurt out racist remarks in an auditorium full of Black journalists for no reason. He did it for a very specific reason, which is to change the subject." 

The secretary of transportation expressed that Trump’s inability to defend his policies, such as tax cuts for the wealthy or restrictions on women’s rights, made him resort to divisive rhetoric.

Pete Buttigieg lauds Kamala Harris on how she tackled Donald Trump's attacks on her racial identity

Pete Buttigieg's comments come in the wake of Republicans' repeated attacks on Kamala Harris regarding her identity as a Black and Indian woman.

At the NABJ convention in Chicago on Wednesday, Trump falsely claimed that the vice president "happened to turn Black" a few years ago when asked whether he agreed with the characterization of her being a "DEI hire." Buttigieg said the remark was "disgusting." 

In response to the former president's comments, Harris’ campaign released a statement condemning his behavior.

"The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people," wrote Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, in a press statement.

He added, "Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency — while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us." 

Moreover, Harris herself condemned Trump's disparaging remarks during a convention in Houston, saying, "It was the same old show. The divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better." 

On 'The View', Buttigieg agreed with Harris’ response to Trump, praising her for addressing the issue directly and not allowing it to distract from her policy agenda.

He noted, "And her response, I think, is pitch perfect. She spoke to it, she condemned it. She challenged him to say it to her face, which he’s clearly afraid to do because he backed out of the debate. But she didn’t let it divert her from focusing on what she is going to do to make us all better off."