At his VoteVets Action Fund town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg responded to the Trump Administration possibly suspending Habeas Corpus.
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00:07One, let's see.
00:09Richard, just sit tight for a second.
00:12Mike will find his way to you.
00:14So, Stephen Miller is talking about getting rid of...
00:18Oh, please.
00:19Wait just a second.
00:20Mike's coming your way.
00:21Okay, Stephen Miller is talking about getting rid of habeas corpus.
00:26And this has been an onslaught since the beginning of the year.
00:30Do you think there's any line that he will cross that Congress is going to finally, like, do something like Republicans?
00:36Yeah, great question.
00:38I mean...
00:40Habeas corpus.
00:43This is some really basic foundational stuff about the rule of law, right?
00:48And that's what tells you this is not a normal Democrat-Republican fight.
00:54Matter of fact, when a senior White House official is seeking to end habeas corpus,
01:00I have a question from some people I know.
01:04Where the hell are the libertarians right now?
01:05I got libertarian or conservative friends who are against the Clean Air Act.
01:20And they actually have...
01:22There's a philosophy to this.
01:24They won't...
01:25They don't say they hate clean air, but they are so opposed to the idea of government doing too much
01:31that even making sure we can breathe air is still too much.
01:38Some of them even say it's tyranny.
01:40Well, if you think the Clean Air Act is tyranny, what do you have to say when they're talking about getting rid of habeas corpus?
01:48And once again, I am convinced that members of Congress in the President's party know that this is wrong.
01:58They also know where their bread is buttered, right?
02:03They live in an environment where they have more to fear from the President of the United States than the people of the United States.
02:10You can watch them do this math in their heads.
02:19I believe the most important thing is to change the math, to change the incentive,
02:25to make them more worried about how they're going to face their own constituents.
02:29If they're not going to town halls, there are other ways to get their attention.
02:34There are other peaceful means to get their attention.
02:37Peaceful but energetic means to get their attention.
02:39That might remind them that if not out of principle, then at least out of political self-preservation,
02:47they have an interest in standing up for what's right.
02:53I'm sorry to say it's not happening on its own.
02:55It should have by now.
02:57But you can tell, because they have been forced to back down on some of their most ridiculous proposals,
03:02that there is a line.
03:03Is there a line he wouldn't cross if he could?
03:05No.
03:06But are there lines that he can't cross?
03:09Yes.
03:09And it's up to us, we the people.
03:11And we don't have to wait for an election.
03:12It's up to we the people to draw those lines and make it clear that you can go this far but no further.