President Donald Trump on Monday accused Democratic presidential hopefuls Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar of dropping out of the race in exchange for possible posts in a Joe Biden administration — calling the move a “quid pro quo.”
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., bowed out on Sunday, while Klobuchar suspended her campaign on Monday.
Both have signaled they will endorse former Vice President Biden, a fellow moderate now on much more solid footing ahead of his Super Tuesday duel against far-left Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“It’s rigged against Bernie, there is no question about it,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a Keep America Great rally in Charlotte, N.C.
Trump went on to accuse Buttigieg and Klobuchar of stepping aside in an attempt to get in good with Biden should he win in November.
“That’s called a quid pro quo, right?” Trump asked. “Quid pro quo.”
The remark was an apparent playful callback to Democrats’ allegations that Trump established a quid pro quo by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July 2019 to probe Biden and his adult son’s dealings in the nation while a substantial US aid package was in the balance.
Trump was ultimately brought up on two articles of impeachment in the Ukraine imbroglio, but the effort failed in the Senate.
