BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley maintained its status as a stop on the tour for high-profile politicos as Pete Buttigieg delivered a keynote lecture Tuesday night at Lehigh University.
Buttigieg, a former U.S. transportation secretary, thanked the crowd in the packed Zoellner Arts Center for a warm welcome before turning his thoughts to global affairs.
“Now, American blood and treasure are being spilled abroad without a clear picture” of the war’s impetus or goals.Pete Buttigieg
“First of all, our nation is at war,” Buttigieg said, questioning President Donald Trump’s justifications for launching a military assault on Iran on Feb. 28.
“Now, American blood and treasure are being spilled abroad without a clear picture” of the war’s impetus or goals, he said.
More than 1,000 civilians and at least six U.S. troops have been killed in Iran, according to reports.
Trump’s top military official warned Wednesday that the U.S. will start “striking progressively deeper” into Iran.
The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, also highlighted domestic turmoil.
Masked federal agents dragging people from homes and cars — a reference to ICE agents — and attempts to arrest lawmakers, are a “form of unfreedom … that should outrage every American — left, center and right,” he said.
The Trump Administration has targeted colleges and universities — federal officials revoked hundreds of visas for college students, including some at Lehigh — and forced companies to “conform” or be punished, Buttigieg said.
Those actions have shaken many people’s faith in the federal government and political foundations, he said.
New opportunities for ‘common ground’
But the upending of long-held norms offers opportunities for new collaborations and coalitions, Buttigieg said.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was a bogeyman for liberals two decades ago after helping to lead the United States into the Iraq War, Buttigieg said.
But in the 2024 presidential election, “Dick Cheney and I were actually on the same side,” Buttigieg said.
“We’re in a moment where it’s possible to build different kinds of coalitions,” he said.
Liberals should be able to agree with conservatives on many issues, particularly the sight of masked federal immigration officers ignoring constitutional rights, Buttigieg said.
“[So] much depends on us getting through this moment in one piece as a country."Pete Buttigieg
He urged guests to show “humility” and “civility” as they search for “common ground” with people who have opposing views.
“Practice [the] politics of addition” rather than alienation, Buttigieg said.
He encouraged guests to imagine a day when Trump is no longer politically active, a moment he said he worries “not enough of us are thinking about.”
“Every politician leaves the scene,” though it’s hard to picture politics without Trump after the past decade, he said.
But he pushed people to reject the false choice of “accepting the chaos of today or endorsing the status quo of yesterday.”
“If things were fine [then], we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he said.
Democrats must look to offer solutions to entrenched issues that existed long before Trump’s presidency, rather than “try to go back” to 2024 or 2014, when their party held control, Buttigieg said.
“[So] much depends on us getting through this moment in one piece as a country," he said.
