If we only had a president…

That’s the message South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg has sent, in a concise, cutting tweet posted after the country suffered two mass shootings within 24 hours of one another, in Ohio and Texas.

At times like this, it would be helpful if our country had a president. — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) August 8, 2019

The Democratic presidential candidate also appeared on MSNBC with a similar message, saying what we need from a president is someone who can unify the country and be able to “lead the way on something that will actually make us safe.”

“When you don’t have moral leadership [from] the president, you begin to understand how important that part of the presidency is,” he continued. “America is at a vulnerable moment in the history of our people. We need to be brought together.”

“If we were able after 9/11, however imperfectly, to step up and take a tremendous amount of added capacity to deal with international terrorism, we ought to do the same thing when the threat is coming from white supremacist terrorism.”

“It may be embarrassing for this administration to act on, because that would mean acknowledging that this ideology that they have sometimes aligned with is killing Americans, but it’s plain as day. It’s right in front of us, and we have got to act.”

At this vulnerable moment in the history of our people, we see that moral leadership is a critical part of the presidency. What we need from a president is the ability to unify the country—and the ability to lead the way to keep us safe. pic.twitter.com/LIQJBNFJnU — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) August 8, 2019

Last month, during a speech at the National Urban League Conference, Buttigieg called President Trump a racist, adding that “we ought to call it what it is.”

The El Paso, Texas shooter was reportedly a Trump supporter, leading many progressives, including Democratic primary candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Beto O’Rourke, to place at least some of the blame for the shooting on the president. Meanwhile, many on the right are blaming Democrats for the Dayton, Ohio shooter’s actions, as he was reportedly left-leaning.