Kamala Harris, the former Vice President, stirred discussion when she addressed why she did not choose Pete Buttigieg as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election.
She provided insight into this decision in her book “107 Days,” with an excerpt featured in The Atlantic.
Harris, who had served alongside Joe Biden, was defeated by Republican Donald Trump on November 5, 2024, while running with Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota.
In her book, Harris expressed that choosing Buttigieg, a gay man, as a running mate could be perceived as a considerable risk. She wrote, “He would have been an ideal partner – if I were a straight white man,” acknowledging the challenges of being a Black woman on the ticket. Harris further elaborated, “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.”
During an appearance on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Harris was questioned about her comments. Maddow asked for clarification on the implication that Buttigieg couldn’t be on the ticket due to his sexuality.
Harris clarified her position, stating, “No, no, no, that’s not what I said. That he couldn’t be on the ticket because he is gay. My point is, as I write in the book, I was clear that in 107 days, in one of the most hotly contested elections for president of the United States against someone like Donald Trump, who knows no floor, to be a Black woman running for president of the United States, and as a vice presidential running mate, a gay man – with the stakes being so high, it made me very sad.”
She emphasized the risks involved, noting, “I’ve been an advocate and an ally of the LGBT community my entire life. So it wasn’t about any prejudice on my part, but that we had such a short period of time, and the stakes were so high.”
Harris described Buttigieg as a ‘phenomenal public servant’ and reflected on her decision, “But when I had to make that decision with two weeks to go – you know, maybe I was being too cautious… Maybe I was, but that’s the decision I made. And I, as with everything else in the book, am being very candid about that, with a great deal of sadness about also the fact that it might have been a risk.”
The online reaction was mixed, with one person noting, “It wasn’t about him being gay, it was actually about him being gay,” while another commented, “Not prejudice on her part, just her thinking that Democrats would be too prejudiced to vote for him.” However, others defended Harris’s decision, stating, “She’s not being homophobic… she’s being realistic this country is hateful as f**k,” and, “That’s such an eye opening and honest thing for Kamala to admit because it really highlights how much identity politics still plays into the decisions made at the highest levels of power…”
Buttigieg responded to the book’s excerpt by expressing surprise at being considered a risk, telling Politico, “My experience in politics has been that the way that you earn trust with voters is based mostly on what they think you’re going to do for their lives, not on categories. I wouldn’t have run for president [in 2020] if I didn’t believe that.”