Pete Buttigieg Responds to Kamala Harris’ Calling Him ‘Naive for Comparing Struggles’—WATCH

Savas Abadsidis November 22, 2019

California Senator Kamala Harris doubled down on criticism to Pete Buttigieg’s response to her line of questioning at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate in Atlanta.

RELATED: That Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris Exchange on Diversity from Last Night’s Debate: WATCH

The day after the presidential debate in which Pete Buttigieg reflected on the experience of being gay in America when asked about his issues with diversity, Harris called the mayor “a bit naive” to bring that up, according to CBS News.

According to The Washington Blade, “Harris at a Black Women Power Breakfast on Thursday hosted by Higher Heights, a national political organization for black women said, “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 told ABC News, “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.”

The Blade also noted in the debate last night, Buttigieg in his remarks explicitly distinguished his experience from that of Black Americans.

In a post debate interview with CNN, Buttigieg also 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.”

⁦@DanaBashCNN⁩ tryin’ to start something with ⁦@PeteButtigieg⁩ & Pete had an AMAZING answer which he said in the debate! Nothing is going to trip him up! Good job Pete! ???????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/lqhMJ4RySx
— Giving THANKS 4 Pete!!!???????? (@destroyurego) November 21, 2019