The former presidential candidate is reflecting on her failed run in which she eventually chose Tim Walz as her running mate.
Samantha Riedel at Them:
Kamala Harris wanted Pete Buttigieg as her vice presidential running mate in the 2024 election, but believed running a ticket with a Black woman and a gay man “was too big of a risk,” according to her forthcoming book 107 Days. In an excerpt from the book seen by The Atlantic this week, Harris revealed that the former Indiana mayor and Secretary of Transportation briefly topped her list of potential running mates last year, after President Joe Biden belatedly dropped out of the race. Buttigieg, Harris wrote, “would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man [...] But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man. Part of me wanted to say, Screw it, let’s just do it. But knowing what was at stake, it was too big of a risk.” “And I think Pete also knew that—to our mutual sadness,” Harris went on. (Spokespeople for both Harris and Buttigieg reportedly declined to comment to The Atlantic.) “I love working with Pete. He and his husband, Chasten, are friends,” the excerpt from Harris’ book continued. Harris described Buttigieg as “a sincere public servant with the rare talent of being able to frame liberal arguments in a way that makes it possible for conservatives to hear them.” Harris and her eventual running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, went on to lose the 2024 election to President Donald Trump, who spent the last several months of the campaign running a blitz of anti-immigrant and anti-transgender attack ads like the infamous “Kamala Is For They/Them” campaign. Meanwhile, Buttigieg has tested the waters for a possible 2028 presidential run of his own over the past several months, but found fresh controversy after exhorting Democrats to “take everyone seriously” regarding conservative opposition to trans-inclusive sports. A June poll from Emerson College found Buttigieg held a slight lead over other hopefuls, but had no support among Black voters — a demographic among whom Buttigieg has struggled to earn trust, thanks in part to his record on criminalization.
Kamala Harris wrote in her 107 Days memoir about the VP pick process when she took over the nomination from Joe Biden, in which she revealed that the then-DOT chief Pete Buttigieg was her first pick to be her running mate.
Harris said that picking Buttigieg was “too big of a risk” because he is a gay man on a ticket headed up by a biracial Black and South Asian woman who was married to a Jewish man.
See Also:
LGBTQ Nation: Kamala Harris wanted Pete Buttigieg to be her running mate but didn’t think America could handle it
The Advocate: Kamala Harris reveals why she didn't pick Pete Buttigieg as her running mate in 2024
HuffPost: Kamala Harris Reveals Whom She Actually Wanted As Her 2024 Running Mate
