Buttigieg Rips Trump On China’s Human Rights Abuses, But Offers No Solutions

Shelby Talcott on December 13, 2019

Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Pete Buttigieg ripped President Donald Trump on his handling China’s human rights abuses, but failed offer any solutions to the issue.

Buttigieg spoke to the Washington Post’s Robert Costa Friday in a live one-on-one interview series called “The 2020 Candidates.” He bashed Trump for indicating “his silence could be purchased” on human rights issues for a trade deal with the country, but didn’t list any concrete steps his administration would take to address China’s human rights abuses.

“Well first of all, the president indicated, our president, indicated that his silence could be purchased on humans rights issues,” Buttigieg said. “That is a nightmare for humans rights … And to not hear a peep of meaningful moral support from the American president shows you just how far we’ve slipped.”

WATCH:

President Trump recently announced a phase-one trade deal with China. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says the part one phasing strikes him as “awfully squishy.” https://t.co/vudp4TapE9 #postlive pic.twitter.com/GtfKANh9SC

— Washington Post Live (@postlive) December 13, 2019

“If we won’t even offer moral support on something like that, with a strategic competitor like China, what message are we sending to a place like Saudi Arabia on our seriousness on issues of human rights,” Buttigieg continued.

Buttigieg failed to mention that the Trump administration has taken action on human rights issues.

Muslim minorities in Xinjiang have faced “repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-technology surveillance,” according to the Commerce Department. The agency added 28 Chinese firms to a trade blacklist in October for their role in abuses of Muslim minorities.

The South Bend, Indiana mayor also brought up Hong Kong protestors in his hit against the president. Trump signed two bills into law in November supporting the months-long pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong — a fact that was not mentioned by the Democratic candidate.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.