Mayor Pete Buttigieg repeated his claim white supremacy was in danger of ending the United States of America, noting on Saturday he could “feel it.”
“I believe, that lurking danger is still with us,” he said in an interview with the Des Moines Register.
He blamed President Donald Trump for allegedly drawing out more white supremacist sentiment in the United States.
“It’s been brought to the surface a little more than usual under this presidency, but it’s always been there,” he said. “And if we don’t tackle it, even with some challenging conversations about what we all owe each other as Americans, it’s just going to keep secreting this poison into American life.”
The South Bend mayor said race relations in the country were reaching a “boiling point” that could threaten the future of the United States.
“I think that polite opinion in white America is very much behind the reality of what people are putting up with right now in this country,” he said. “And it will reach a boiling point … I can feel it.”
Buttigieg frequently warns about the alleged rising threat posed by white supremacy, particularly after he was criticized for failing black residents of South Bend after a police shooting of a black suspect.
Buttigieg faced skepticism by black residents for firing the city’s black police chief as well fewer black police officers in the police force during his administration. His attempt to enact body cameras for city police officers also failed, as the police officer involved in the shooting did not have his camera turned on.
Angry members of the community criticized Buttigieg for failing South Bend while traveling around the country for his presidential campaign.