Kamala Harris Wanted Pete Buttigieg For Running Mate But Thought It Was “Asking A Lot Of America”
Harris’ new book reveals she thought a Black woman and a gay man on the ticket was “too big of a risk.”
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Former Vice President Kamala Harris wanted Pete Buttigieg as her running mate on the 2024 presidential election ticket but didn’t think America could handle it. In an excerpt of her soon-to-be-released memoir, 107 Days, Harris candidly reveals that the former U.S. Transportation Secretary “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.”
In the excerpts published by The Atlantic, Harris wrote, “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.”
Buttigieg initially had the top spot on her vetting list of eight names, because she loved working with him and they were friends; and she saw in him, “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.”
Elsewhere in the book, Harris also calls out Joe Biden’s decision to stay in the race for a second term: “In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
Since Harris’ defeat, Buttigieg has been keeping some visibility, while making a home in Traverse City, MI with husband Chasten and two children. During the tumult of this past week, he’s projected a vision of bringing people together.
He has spoken out against political violence, and of the importance of talking to each other “in environments where our humanity comes through” – a space that sits outside the social media bubble where algorithms push us toward certain directions.
“If we are to deprive political violence of its power, we must reject anyone who commits or promotes it – and also reject any move to exploit it,” he wrote on X.
Kamala Harris’ revelations and transparency are bittersweet. Indeed, Harris and Buttigieg were the power pair that many of us dreamed of as contenders for the White House. Whether or not “Mayor Pete” lives up to the buzz with a run in 2028, we know that what has been perceived in the past as the safest choice has not always borne out to be the most successful.
Time tell whether the former naval officer proves to be the heir-not-yet-apparent to lead us forward. As Roman poet Virgil once said: “fortune favors the bold.”
