Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ripped into Donald Trump on Sunday, accusing the president of exploiting the deaths of American service members for campaign cash — and saying the behavior proves Trump is unfit to serve as commander in chief.
Speaking to Jake Tapper on State of the Union, Buttigieg blasted Trump’s political operation for sending fundraising appeals that featured images from a solemn dignified transfer ceremony honoring U.S. troops killed in action.
“Just this week we saw campaign fundraising materials being put out — emails where the president’s committee, the president’s political operation, was raising money off images of him at a dignified transfer,” Buttigieg said.
He didn’t mince words about what that means.
“Any politician who does that has no business leading American troops into war,” Buttigieg added. “If the president is willing to raise campaign funds over the bodies of America’s war dead, he is unfit to be the commander in chief.”
The dignified transfer earlier this month honored six American service members killed during Trump’s military campaign against Iran, which the administration dubbed Operation Epic Fury.
Instead of treating the ceremony with the gravity it deserved, Trump showed up wearing a baseball cap — one that appeared identical to a $55 hat sold by his political operation online. Critics were quick to note that the same moment later appeared in fundraising emails sent to supporters.
The spectacle drew outrage across social media and from political leaders who said the president had crossed a line.
Among the loudest critics was Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who reacted bluntly when footage first surfaced.
“Take your hat off, you disgusting little man,” Newsom wrote.
For many observers, the controversy fits into a broader pattern of Trump turning even the most solemn moments into campaign content — a move critics say cheapens the sacrifices made by American troops and their families.
Watch Buttigieg’s full interview below from CNN:
