Mayor Pete Buttigieg warned Saturday of the rising threat of white supremacy, noting that it could end the United States of America.

“It could be the lurking issue that ends this country in the future if we don’t wrangle it down in our time,” he told ABC News.

Buttigieg argued that white supremacy started the Civil War and almost ended the United States.

“That is the only issue that almost ended this country,” he said.

The South Bend Mayor frequently criticizes the United States for failing to provide racial equality, warning of a new Civil War.

“If we do not tackle the problem of racial inequality in my lifetime, I am convinced that it will upend the American project in my lifetime,” he warned in July. “It brought our country to its knees once and if we do not act, it could again.”

Buttigieg claims that America is systematically racist and requires affirmative action across the entire federal government.

“It will not be enough to replace racist systems and racist policies with neutral policies,” he said in June. “If we are not actively, pro-actively, yes, affirmatively reversing these harms, then my generation too will be held to account with our failure to control the system.”