Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Hillicon Valley: FBI, DHS warn that foreign hackers will likely spread disinformation around election results | Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day | Trump to meet with Republican state officials on tech liability shield MORE said on Sunday the idea of President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE pardoning accused or convicted war criminals “undermines the very foundations, legal and moral, of this country.”

Speaking to Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week,” the mayor of South Bend, Ind. went after Trump, who did not serve in the military, for saying: “Some of these soldiers are people that have fought hard and long. You know, we teach them how to be great fighters and then when they fight sometimes they get really treated very unfairly.”

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“The idea that being sent to war turns you into a murderer is exactly the kind of thing that those of us who have served have been trying to beat back for more than a generation,” Buttigieg said, adding, “Frankly, his idea that being sent to fight makes you automatically into some kind of war criminal is slander against veterans that could only come from somebody who never served.”

Pete Buttigieg on Trump’s proposal to pardon some service members accused of war crimes: “His idea that being sent to fight makes you automatically into some kind of war criminal is a slander against veterans” https://t.co/LqbnX8uTU4 pic.twitter.com/ZeTQpvmKs4 — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 26, 2019

Trump is reportedly considering pardons for at least two soldiers and one contractor who are accused or convicted of killing unarmed people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Buttigieg is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan and he is among a growing chorus of former military and national security officials urging Trump to abandon the plan.