Despite having a slew of educational credentials, an Ivy League degree and being a Rhodes Scholar, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s resurfaced comments about America’s founding fathers’ moral knowledge of slavery has folks questioning his intelligence.
The Democratic presidential candidate whitewashed the founding fathers’ complicity in the evils of slavery in front of a group of white children in 2014, reported NewsOne.
A 29-second video clip shows Buttigieg talking to a group of young students during an appearance on a public television program. In it, the South Bend, Indiana mayor says:
“Similarly, the amendment process – they were wise enough to realize that they didn’t have all of the answers and that some things would change. A good example of this is something like slavery – or civil rights. It’s an embarrassing thing to admit, but the people who wrote the Constitution did not understand that slavery was a bad thing and did not respect civil rights.”
The backlash to Buttigieg’s comments was immediate and immense. In addition to questioning his often heralded intelligence, some users called Buttigieg a flat-out liar. Others said he wasn’t ready to lead the country if he couldn’t be honest about basic historical facts.
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“He’s sitting there lying to those kids, the dudes that wrote the constitution absolutely knew that slavery was wrong,” Twitter user MF Norm wrote.
“Imagine actually thinking that people smart enough to make a document that still stands centuries later as the framework to government and law were not smart enough to know that whipping, raping, and lynching other humans was a bad thing,” replied another Twitter user identified as Jonathan Quick.
Moguldom founder Jamarlin Martin called out Buttigieg’s complicity, saying he was “likely ‘more educated’ on this than the average anti-reparations Democrat.”
According to Blavity, Buttigieg tried to defend his comments after coming under fire for the clip.
“I wanted to make sure I communicated that I’m very conscious of the advantages and privileges that I have had,“ Buttigieg said. “Not through any great wealth, but certainly through education, through the advantages that come with being white and being male — and that’s part of why I know I’ve got to make myself useful as a candidate and as president.“
Despite him gaining a little traction earlier this month for saying generational wealth has been stolen from Black America, most social media users didn’t buy Buttigieg’s explanation.
