Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg said Thursday he feels sorry for President Donald Trump, and for the United States after Trump used a National Weather Service map that appeared to have been altered to vindicate his claim Hurricane Dorian also would affect Alabama.
"I feel sorry for the president, and that is not the way we should feel about the most powerful figure in this country," the South Bend, Indiana Mayor told CNN's "New Day." "I don't know if he felt it necessary to pull out a Sharpie and change his map, I don't know if one of his aides believed they had to do that in order to protect his ego. No matter how you cut it, this is an unbelievably sad state of affairs for our country.
"When the president has been reduced to this, all of us are diminished because the presidency is something to be looked up to," Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg also Thursday defended his ties linking climate change to faith during his appearance in Wednesday night's climate change town hall.
"I'm going to tread carefully here, because it's very important to me never to impose my religious views on anyone else, because I know what can happen when people in government decide to do that, but we're having a national conversation, and I think it's absolutely appropriate for us to speak to people whose moral and political choices are guided by faith," Buttigieg said.