Connect with us

News

Buttigieg Praises Harris’s Focus on ‘People’s Families’ – Slams Vance’s ‘Childless’ Attack

Published

on

Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg took aim at Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate JD Vance, destroying his attack on “childless” Democrats, which he had described as the “future” of the Democratic Party.

In a wide-ranging CNN interview Tuesday night (videos below), Buttigieg criticized Vance’s “obvious interest in power,” highlighting his switch from being extremely anti-Trump to joining the convicted felon’s run for the White House. He also mocked Trump’s apparent attempt to withdraw from an ABC News debate now that Kamala Harris is the Democrats’ de-facto presidential nominee.

CNN host Kaitlan Collins played a 2021 clip in which now-Senator Vance had told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, “It’s just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC. The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Collins noted that Buttigieg now has kids and Vice President Harris is a step-mother.

“The really sad thing is, he said that after Chasten and I had been through a fairly heartbreaking setback in our adoption journey,” Secretary Buttigieg responded, referring to his husband with whom he is now raising twins. “He couldn’t have known that but maybe that’s why you shouldn’t be talking about other people’s children.”

RELATED: Harris Defines Campaign in Roaring Wisconsin Rally: ‘People First’ vs. ‘America First’

“And it’s not about his kids, or my kids, or the vice president’s family,” Buttigieg continued. “It’s about your family, people’s families, whose well-being will depend on whether we go into a future led by somebody like Kamala Harris, who is focused on expanding the prosperity, the freedom, the well-being of our families. And by the way, especially if you have kids and you’re worried about climate, choosing between a party that has a plan on climate that creates jobs, and a party that still calls it a hoax even as we went through the hottest day in world history. Or do you want your children to grow up in a country defined by a return to the chaos and recrimination and cruelty that was the hallmark of the Trump era?”

Buttigieg also called Donald Trump’s decision to add the Ohio Republican Senator to the ticket “regrettable,” while mocking Vance’s flip flop from anti-Trump to Trump running mate.

He told Collins, “the choice of JD Vance is a regrettable choice, because he’s somebody who was at his most convincing and effective when he talked about how unfit for office Donald Trump is, and he has not explained any reason other than, of course, his obvious interest in power.”

Buttigieg said Vance’s “whole identity is that he is connected to Appalachia, a place that is being hurt so profoundly by the opioid crisis. So the fact that he didn’t just refer to Donald Trump as an idiot, though he did, didn’t just say all kinds of things about how he was terrible, but compared Donald Trump to opioids – that is literally the darkest, most negative thing someone connected to Appalachia could possibly say about a politician. And that was in public, right? In private, he was comparing him to Hitler, reportedly. He has yet to explain why his opinion would be any different other than his own search for power.”

READ MORE: Eight Years Ago JD Vance Wondered How Many Americans Donald Trump Had ‘Sexually Assaulted’

Collins, noting Trump has claimed he will debate Harris, but not in the previously-agreed ABC News setting, also asked Buttigieg if he thinks Trump is “scared” to debate Vice President Harris.

As she acknowledged Trump agreed to debate Harris, possibly more than once, Buttigieg interjected, saying: “only after backing out of the debate he already agreed to, though, right?”

“I think the interesting thing about this is, what changed,” Buttigieg asked, “from when he said he was ready to do an ABC debate and when he now says he’s not? ABC didn’t change. Donald Trump didn’t change. But there’s a new candidate and clearly he hesitates to debate her on the exact same terms that he thought to be okay.”

Asked why he thinks Trump is “scared” to debate Harris, Buttigieg replied, “I think she is going to be so effective.”

“And she’s going to lay bare his inability to talk about anything but himself and his past. I think what you’ll see is two things that I’m ready for, excited for Americans to see. Yes, the contrast, the way as she laid out very powerfully, she as a prosecutor who has defended people from people like Donald Trump, [she’s] gonna remind everybody about that record, but also a contrast in governing records.”

“She’s going to be I think, very effective in reminding Americans that on issue after issue, they already agree with us, they already agree with her and Democrats. Americans agree with Democrats and disagree with Donald Trump, on taxes and his agenda of tax cuts for the rich. They agree with Kamala Harris, Democrats, and disagree with Donald Trump on his removal of the right to choose in this country. And gun violence, marriage, you can go on down the list. I think she’s very well-positioned to remind Americans of that fact.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Harris Super PAC Picks Up $7 Million Donation From Megadonor Who Demanded Biden’s Exit

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Is Canada Next?’ Ex-Trump Official Says Greenland Threat Worse Than Imagined

Published

6 hours ago

on

January 19, 2026

By

A former top Trump official is warning that President Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland are worse than could be imagined, and wonders if he will stop there or target another close U.S. ally, like Canada, next.

John Bolton, who served as Trump’s National Security Adviser during the first Trump administration, told NewsNation that the “damage that Donald Trump is doing to America’s reputation, to the trust and good faith and reliance, our European allies and friends around the world have on us is just impossible to state.”

He called it “extraordinary” to “threaten the invasion of a NATO ally, to seize by force a territory from a democracy.”

“The impact in Europe,” he said, “you cannot calculate how bad this is for us.”

READ MORE: ‘Dictators’ Tea Party’: Trump’s Board of Peace Ridiculed as New Details Revealed

Trump has ramped up his threats to acquire Greenland, and has refused to commit to not using military force to take control of the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Bolton added, “if you want to rip up the NATO alliance, if you want to convince every other American ally around the world — Japan, South Korea, Australia — that we can’t be trusted, go ahead and use military force against Denmark in Greenland.”

“Go ahead and threaten your best friends and allies with retaliatory tariffs, because they just won’t give in,” he continued. “This is so counterproductive for the United States that it’s gonna take years to repair the damage that Donald Trump is doing, and none of it will do anything for the security of Greenland or the NATO alliance.”

“Well,” he added, “consider what it means for the United States to invade an ally like Denmark. Is Canada next? Shall we invade Great Britain? How about Spain?”

Bolton asked, “what is it that gives Trump the idea that the only way to deal with one of the friendliest countries in the world toward America, for 250 years, is to threaten military force?”

READ MORE: ‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

 

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

News

‘Dictators’ Tea Party’: Trump’s Board of Peace Ridiculed as New Details Revealed

Published

7 hours ago

on

January 19, 2026

By

The rollout for President Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace, which has drawn controversy and is facing resistance, does not appear to be going smoothly. The American president wants national leaders who join to donate at least $1 billion within the first year to become a permanent member. According to reports, Trump would be chairman for life, the organization could be filled with authoritarian leaders, and it is being seen as a possible rival to the United Nations.

Already, French President Emmanuel Macron, who appears to be leading the charge against Trump in Europe, reportedly has declined to join.

“The body was originally conceived as part of the U.S. president’s push to create a new governance framework for the shattered Palestinian enclave in the wake of Israel’s devastating two-year offensive against Hamas,” The Financial Times reported.

“The Board of Peace has had a rough landing,” reported Bloomberg News’ UK political editor Alex Wickham, noting that “it’s been criticized by Israel, questioned by Europe and has Russia’s friends celebrating.”

READ MORE: ‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

“World leaders were blindsided and bewildered by Trump’s demand they pay $1 billion for permanent membership, sources say,” Wickham noted. “European allies are working to modify the terms and coordinate a response, sources say. They are trying to persuade Arab leaders to help lobby Trump for changes.”

As chairman, Trump would have the ability to add or remove member nations, veto the board’s decisions and cast tie-breaking votes, and create or dissolve committees.

Critics are blasting Trump’s proposed Board of Peace.

Daily Mail UK columnist Andrew Neil said it will probably be Trump’s “most radical step yet to replace the post-WW2 global order. It will also be quite the dictators’ tea party. Putin, Lukashenko (Belarus tyrant) and the dictator of Kazakhstan have all been asked to join!!”

Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov remarked, “The board of peace stars dictators apparently.”

The Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign-affairs correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov, observed, “Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ looks very much like a plan to replace the UN Security Council with an imperial court of vassals in which he is chairman for life, even after leaving the White House, with veto over every decision and the sole right to designate a successor. And a $1 billion fee for aspiring permanent members.”

Former chief White House ethics attorney Richard Painter wrote, “Almost 75,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in this war, and now we are auctioning off seats on a Gaza ‘Board of Peace’. For a Middle East peace policy, this is pathetic.”

READ MORE: Europe Divorcing America Now Seen as ‘Inevitable’: Report

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

News

‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

Published

10 hours ago

on

January 19, 2026

By

President Donald Trump’s latest shot across the bow—a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway that critics say carries an implied threat of war over Greenland following his failure to receive the Nobel Peace Prize — has once again prompted calls for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in his message to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

“Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?” Trump asked. “There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

Norway is separate from Denmark, which governs Greenland, and the government of Norway does not award the Nobel Peace Prize — as many critics have pointed out. Trump reportedly believes that the Norwegian government “totally” controls who is awarded the coveted prize.

READ MORE: Europe Divorcing America Now Seen as ‘Inevitable’: Report

“Even by Trump’s standards, this letter is so dangerous and so delusional that there is no longer any question that the president is mentally ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,’ as laid out in the 25th Amendment to the Constitution,” wrote Janna Brancolini at The Daily Beast. “Removal under the 25th Amendment might not be politically likely, but it’s a constitutional tool that must be seriously discussed. To do otherwise would be to indulge the dangerous alternative reality that Trump and his supporters are so desperate to construct.”

“The president is, simply put, not a well man. He subsists on a diet of fast food and aspirin, stays up until the wee hours of the night doom-scrolling on social media, and spent Christmas day rage-posting on his Truth Social platform,” Brancolini added. “This is why impeachment is not enough.”

Trump’s letter was so extreme that European officials were circulating a meme of the American president’s letter, written in crayon, as Alternet reported.

But in the U.S., critics including elected officials are calling for the 25th Amendment or other acknowledgment of what they say is the president’s incapacitation.

“These are the ramblings of a man who has lost touch with reality,” wrote U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) in response to the Trump letter. “He isn’t ok. He’s degraded significantly in the last year and he’s about to get us into a war with our allies.”

READ MORE: Anti-Gay Bias Surges ‘Sharply’ — Even Among These Least Expected Groups: Report

“Invoke the 25th Amendment,” urged U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).

“I don’t see how you can be a serious person and not find this extremely worrisome,” observed U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI). “He is not stable at all and his reality is warped. He was always a bit like this of course but now he’s 80.”

“This letter, and the fact that the president directed that it be distributed to other European countries, should trigger a bipartisan congressional inquiry into presidential fitness,” commented Professor of Medicine and Surgery Jonathan Reiner, a CNN medical analyst.

“Trump‘s new gigantic temper tantrum over Norway is deep into 25th Amendment territory,” remarked the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson. “Hell, at this point? 25th Admt territory is far in the rearview mirror and we are descending further into madness by the moment.”

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh simply urged, “25th Amendment. Now.”

READ MORE: ‘Unconstitutional Conspiracy’: Judge Blasts Trump Administration Officials

 

Image via Reuters

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.