Under criticism, Buttigieg changes plans and will attend King Day event in South Carolina

After local leaders criticized his decision, presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s campaign announced that he will, after all, attend Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations in Columbia, S.C., on Monday.

Buttigieg had originally planned to attend commemorative events in his hometown of South Bend, Ind. He now plans to spend Monday morning in South Carolina before attending previously scheduled events in Iowa on Monday afternoon.

Buttigieg has struggled to attract support from black voters, one of the Democratic Party’s most important constituencies. His absence from King Day activities in the first voting state in which black voters dominate was particularly glaring and generated significant criticism.

Former vice president Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and businessman Tom Steyer had previously committed to take part in the 20th anniversary of King Day at the Dome — an annual rally held by the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/under-criticism-buttigieg-changes-plans-and-will-attend-king-day-event-in-south-carolina/2020/01/18/5d5869dc-3a5b-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html