Pete Buttigieg responded on Thursday to remarks by Kamala Harris following Wednesday night's debate that it was “naive” for him to compare his struggles as a gay man with the struggles faced by African-Americans.
Said Harris at a Black Women Power Breakfast on Thursday hosted by Higher Heights, a national political organization for black women: “Those of us who've been involved in civil rights for a long time we know that it is important that we not compare our struggles. It is not productive, it is not smart and strategically it works against what we need to do which is build coalition. We know that in our ongoing fight for civil rights if any one of us starts to differentiate ourselves in a certain way and in particular what he did on the stage, it's just not productive. And I think it's a bit naïve.”
Asked about Harris's remarks, Buttigieg replied, “This is a time for solidarity and anyone who has experienced whatever personal struggle we bring to this fight, needs to reach into that as motivation to help others.”
Buttigieg also clarified his remarks after the debate in several interviews. To ABC News he said: “First of all, there's no equating those two experiences, and some people, by the way, live at the intersection of those experiences. What I do think is important is for each of us is to reveal who we are and what motivates us. And it's important for voters to understand what makes me tick, what moves me, and my sources of motivation and ensuring that I stand up for others.”
Buttigieg also spoke with CNN's Dana Bash post-debate and said: “When I'm speaking with black voters across the country, the two biggest things I hear are, first of all, ‘What are you going to do? What is your agenda for black America? But even more than that is, “What moves you? What makes you tick? Why do you care about any of this? And I realized before I got to the ‘what' I need to explain the ‘why'. Now, the experience of being black in America is by no means even comparable to the experience of being gay. I tried to make clear that I haven't had the experience of being discriminated against because of race. But I do know what it is to question your belonging in your country and I think now is a moment where the patterns of exclusion that have existed in this country around race, country of origin, abilities, so many different ways, call us to find in our own identity, in our own very different life experiences, the motivation to help others. And to make sure that we are standing up for different people who have had different experiences with exclusion. So I recognize how different my experience is from anyone else but I wanted to make sure everybody understood my motivations. Rights in my life have been brought to me by people very different from me. And it's a reminder of my obligation to make myself useful to people whose struggles are different than my own.”
At Wednesday night's Democratic debate, Harris was asked about criticism of Pete Buttigieg's outreach to black voters, and what prompted her to make the criticism. Earlier in the week, Harris had said, “The Democratic nominee has got to be someone who has the experience of connecting with all of who we are, as the diversity of the American people.”
Replied Harris at the debate, in part: “I was asked a question that related to a stock photograph that his campaign published. But, listen, I think that it really speaks to a larger issue, and I'll speak to the larger issue. I believe that the mayor has made apologies for that. The larger issue is that for too long I think candidates have taken for granted constituencies that have been the backbone of the Democratic Party and have overlooked those constituencies and have — you know, they show up when it's, you know, close to election time and show up in a black church and want to get the vote, but just haven't been there before. … And I'm running for president because I believe that we have to have leadership in this country who has worked with and have the experience of working with all folks. And we've got to re-create the Obama coalition to win. And that means about women, that's people of color, that's our LGBTQ community, that's working people, that's our labor unions. But that is how we are going to win this election, and I intend to win.”
Buttigieg responded: “My response is, I completely agree. And I welcome the challenge of connecting with black voters in America who don't yet know me. And before I share what's in my plans, let me talk about what's in my heart and why this is so important. As mayor of a city that is racially diverse and largely low income, for eight years, I have lived and breathed the successes and struggles of a community where far too many people live with the consequences of racial inequity that has built-up over centuries but been compounded by policies and decisions from within living memory.”
“I care about this because my faith teaches me that salvation has to do with how I make myself useful to those who have been excluded, marginalized, and cast aside and oppressed in society,” Buttigieg added. “And I care about this because, while I do not have the experience of ever having been discriminated against because of the color of my skin, I do have the experience of sometimes feeling like a stranger in my own country, turning on the news and seeing my own rights come up for debate, and seeing my rights expanded by a coalition of people like me and people not at all like me, working side by side, shoulder to shoulder, making it possible for me to be standing here. Wearing this wedding ring in a way that couldn't have happened two elections ago lets me know just how deep my obligation is to help those whose rights are on the line every day, even if they are nothing like me in their experience.”
