Pete Buttigieg heatedly defends LBJ's honor after Trump praises his own presidential record on race

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 23 October 2020

Pete Buttigieg gave President Trump a quick history lesson during Thursday night's debate.

Moderator Kristen Welker asked both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden about Black families having to specifically talk with their children about interacting with police. Trump was quick to respond, saying, "Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump. And if you look, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln ... I'm the least racist person in this room."

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and one of Biden's rivals during the Democratic primaries, didn't like Trump glossing over more than 150 years of history, and pointed out on Twitter that a president who came before Trump ushered into law some very important legislature. "The Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964 by President Johnson," Buttigieg tweeted. "Show some goddamned respect."

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Back in June, Trump claimed that his "administration has done more for the Black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln," touting the passage of criminal justice reform and guaranteed funding for historically Black colleges and universities. Vox's Fabiola Cineas points out that many presidents between Lincoln and Trump have helped Black Americans, whether it's Ulysses S. Grant creating the Department of Justice and pushing to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan or Barack Obama passing the Affordable Care Act, "which has reduced racial disparities in health care."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.