Foreign policy took center stage for a portion of Tuesday's debate amid the backdrop of the Trump administration's sudden withdrawal of US troops from Syria.
The move gave an opening for Turkish forces to move into the area, directly threatening the existence of the Kurdish people, who have been among the US' strongest partners in the fight against ISIS, and giving the terror group an opening.
Gabbard, who served in the US Army and is currently in the Army reserves, is running on an expressly anti-interventionist platform of reducing US military presence abroad.
But when Gabbard characterized US involvement in Syria as an unnecessary "regime change war" and advocated for the US to withdraw from the region, Buttigieg firmly pushed back.
"Well, respectfully, congresswoman, I think that is dead wrong," Buttigieg said. "The slaughter going on in Syria is not a consequence of American presence, it a consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values."
Read more: Pete Buttigieg and Tulsi Gabbard, the only military vets on the Democratic debate stage, duke it out over US action in Syria
A testy exchange on Donald Trump's Syria policy between Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Buttigieg. #ctl #p2 #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/QuwZn3Rag3
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October 16, 2019