Chasten Buttigieg has been tapped to assist the Biden campaign.
By Beatrice Peterson ABC News
On ABC’s «The View,» former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg slammed President Donald Trump on his alleged comments that American service members killed in war were «losers» and «suckers,» according to a report in The Atlantic.
Trump also reportedly canceled a visit to a cemetery for American soldiers outside Paris in 2018.
«I think about the people who didn’t make it back, people I served with who were not suckers. They’re not losers. They were patriots and all of us are better off because of their sacrifice,» Buttigieg said.
«This is part of a pattern that Donald Trump has shown his entire life, all the way back to when he was a young man and because he was wealthy he was able to arrange to have somebody go in his place by pretending to be disabled by bone spurs so even though this is a new low, on some level, it’s not totally surprising and I think it’s part of an even bigger pattern which is just how he sees the world,» he added.
MORE: Trump denies report claiming he made disparaging remarks about fallen service members
The president was exempted from military service in the 1960s after receiving a letter from a doctor saying he had a bone spur ailment.
The former South Bend Mayor continued by saying that Trump «thinks there’s two kinds of people in the world. The suckers and the people who take advantage of them and it’s obvious, which category he puts himself in.»
Buttigieg urged Republicans not to attach themselves to Trump, who the former mayor says is not a «real conservative.» «It’s not too late to step forward and do the right thing but we’re not seeing an awful lot of courage, in today’s Republican Party. Some people starting to walk away, but not nearly enough.»
«So many things that this president does they’re just as offensive to conservative values as they are to liberal values. The idea of supporting our troops is an American value. And the president has turned his back on that,» Buttigieg said.
In his first appearance on «The View,» author Chasten Buttigieg also joined his husband Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday.
Earlier in the month, Chasten released «I Have Something To Tell You» a new best-selling memoir about his life, looking at his time on the campaign trail as well as his life before finding his eventual husband on the dating app, Hinge.
In 2019 Chasten, who is a middle school drama teacher, took a leave of absence from teaching to support his husband’s bid for president. The former educator was seen as a powerhouse player for the campaign, holding fundraisers of his own and amassing hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and Twitter in an effort to support his husband. Who made history as the first major openly gay candidate to launch a bid for the presidency.
Chasten was asked by «The View»‘s Meghan McCain about criticisms that the couple wasn’t «gay enough» while they attempted to make history as the first gay couple in the White House.
He said the criticisms were a «little surprising to me too.»
«I won’t lie. You know, especially someone who grew up in a conservative place and was gay enough for shame and bullying. You saw it the campaign trail, definitely gay enough for right wing media. I am who I am. Maybe some of those insults were related to policy issues that my husband had and I always wish they would separate, the policy debate from my dignity. Because, my dignity is not up for debate,» Chasten responded.
Reminiscing about the campaign trail, Chasten added, «I knew we were definitely gay enough for the people who came up to us, you know on the rope lines and hug those people, 18 years old or 70 years old, who found the courage to come out and who found the courage to to open up to their family they hadn’t spoken to in decades, I mean we heard those stories, every day, and I knew we were enough for them and that’s I think what mattered most.»
Chasten’s ability to connect with voters has been utilized by more than just his husband’s campaign. He has been tapped to assist the Biden campaign. He told ABC News in February, «I can connect with people,» and that «as a person who came out in a country that made LGBTQ Americans feel disgusting and unwanted and unloved, I know what it’s like to feel like this country doesn’t stand for you.»
Last month, Buttigieg co-hosted an «Out for Biden Event» with Dr. Jill Biden. During the call he talked about life as a political spouse and learning to tell his truth while supporting his husband.
Biden told Chasten at the event,»You and Pete did something truly historic. And I have to say it’s made me feel so proud of how far we’ve all come.»
When asked by Biden about what keeps him fighting, Chasten said he told the former vice president, «I was never really good at the stump speech for a while. And then I realized, I just have to tell my truth. And when I was standing in front of people I just said, you know, I’m not here because I feel obligated to, of course, I love my husband, but I’m here because I have to be.»
The former South Bend Mayor has also been lending a hand to the Biden campaign becoming a surrogate and mainstay on the mostly virtual campaign trail, all while helping other candidates across the country. After ending his bid for president, Buttigieg started his own political action Committee, «Win The Era» aimed at electing young leaders. He will be releasing his own book «Trust» in October.
