Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Pete ButtigiegPeter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegButtigieg defends Kaepernick, NFL players who kneel during national anthem Journalism is now opinion-based — not news-based Buttiegieg backs NFL players’ right to protest during anthem: I ‘put my life on the line to defend’ that MORE said on Sunday the idea of President TrumpDonald John TrumpPapadopoulos on AG’s new powers: ‘Trump is now on the offense’ Pelosi uses Trump to her advantage Mike Pence delivers West Point commencement address MORE pardoning accused or convicted war criminals “undermines the very foundations, legal and moral, of this country.”
Speaking to Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week,” the mayor of South Bend, Ind. went after Trump, who did not serve in the military, for saying: “Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters and then when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly.”
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“The idea that being sent to war turns you into a murderer is exactly the kind of thing that those of us who have served have been trying to beat back for more than a generation,” Buttigieg said, adding, “Frankly, his idea that being sent to fight makes you automatically into some kind of war criminal is slander against veterans that could only come from somebody who never served.”
Trump is reportedly considering pardons for at least two soldiers and one contractor who are accused or convicted of killing unarmed people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Buttigieg is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan and he is among a growing chorus of former military and national security officials urging Trump to abandon the plan.