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Buttigieg Says It’s ‘Unbelievable’ That Bolton Is Allowed In The Situation Room

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Democratic 2020 presidential contender Pete Buttigieg took aim at National Security Adviser John Bolton during his Sunday evening town hall on Fox News.

Addressing the topic of military force and when it’s appropriate, Buttigieg — who served in Iraq himself — turned the question back on President Donald Trump’s administration and Bolton in particular.

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Teacher Brian Cohen asked, “You have seen war firsthand, I am wondering under what circumstances would you consider the use of military force.” (RELATED: ‘Tweets Are — I Don’t Care’: Buttigieg Is So Over Trump’s ‘Silly Insults’)

“You know, when you have been ordered abroad on the command of a U.S. president, you think a lot about what’s at stake, there is nothing more grave than fact that office holds the power to deploy troops into war zones,” Buttigieg began. “I am concerned about right now, we’re seeing that power talked about in a very casual way.”

The South Bend, Indiana mayor referenced the situation in Venezuela and the fact that some had floated the possibility of military intervention in an effort to assist the Venezuelan people in toppling the regime of dictator Nicolas Maduro.

“Now the same thing — or something different, but, that same kind of saber-rattling — with Iran,” Buttigieg continued, taking a shot at Bolton. “By the way, reportedly engineered by John Bolton, who is one of people who built the war in Iraq, How someone who is behind that — one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in American history — is allowed anywhere near the situation room of a president who claims, probably falsely, but claims he was against the Iraq War, is unbelievable to me.”

Buttigieg concluded that in his own administration, there would have to be a much higher bar for sending American service members into danger abroad.

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