Mayor Pete Buttigieg dismissed supporters of President Donald Trump Wednesday who chanted “send her back” in response to Rep. Ilhan Omar at his political rally.
Asked by a reporter if he would try to win over the Trump supporters who engaged in that chant, Buttigieg said, “No.”
“The reality is there are a lot of committed racists whose vote I’m never going to get and that’s alright,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg commented on the controversial chant as he campaigned in Indiana after the president denounced it on Wednesday.
The South Bend mayor asserted many “Republicans of conscience” were already “thinking twice” about their vote for Trump in 2016 asserting that their consciences would not allow them to do so again.
“There are a lot of people who simply voted to burn the house down,” he said. “And now that the house in on fire, it’s time to actually put in somebody who’s going to do something about the future.”
When asked if he believed Trump’s assertion that he did not appreciate the controversial chant, Buttigieg replied, “Of course not.”
“If President Trump really cared, he would have done something on the spot about it, but of course we know that first of all he lacks the courage to do that and secondly he needs us divided, he wants us divided,” he said.