Pete Buttigieg says white supremacists ‘feel validated’ by Trump, in response to El Paso shooting

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Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg looks on during a town hall community meeting, Sunday, June 23, 2019, at Washington High School in South Bend, Ind. Buttigieg faced criticism from angry black residents at the emotional town hall meeting, a week after a white police officer fatally shot a black man in the city. (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune via AP)Associated Press

  • Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday blamed El Paso‘s shooting on Saturday on the White House‘s racial rhetoric.
  • Buttigieg suggested that white nationalists "feel validated from all the way at the top," and that white nationalism is "condoned at the highest level of our government."
  • The shooting was reportedly racially charged. Authorities are investigating whether an anti-immigrant manifesto that was posted online before the shooting was written by the shooter. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said during a Fox News interview on Sunday that "white nationalism is condoned at the highest level of our government" in response to the El Paso shooting that occurred Saturday morning.

Buttigieg is likely directly referring to President Donald Trump’s rhetoric regarding immigration and attitudes towards immigrants.

 

Buttigieg compared Trump’s rhetoric to that of prominent white nationalist David Duke, who ran during the presidential candidacy in 1988. Regarding Duke’s candidacy, Buttigieg said "the Republican Party was horrified, they couldn’t run away fast enough. Right now, you see it being echoed by the White House."

"This is part of a climate," Buttigieg said, "where people who are in the grip of this hateful extremist ideology feel validated, and they feel validated from all the way at the top."

At the El Paso shooting, 20 people were killed and 26 injured in a Walmart. The shooter was arrested, and authorities are investigating whether an anti-immigrant manifesto that was posted online before the shooting was written by the shooter. 

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SEE ALSO: 2020 candidates and local celebrities react to the deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed at least 18 people on Saturday

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Antonio Villas-Boas)

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