According to reports, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is is at the top of Vice President Kamala Harris’ list of running mates.
President Joe Biden, 81, announced he was withdrawing from the race on Sunday. He endorsed Harris, 59, as the Democratic nominee.
Buttigieg, 42, would be America’s first openly gay vice president in history. Buttigieg has said he is open to being Harris’ vice president.
During an appearance on MSNBC, Buttigieg was asked about possibly being Harris’s running mate.
“She’s going to make that decision. She’s going to do it based on what’s best for the country, best for the party and best for the ticket. I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is the next president,” Buttigieg said. “I’m excited to be out there on the trail whenever there’s an opportunity to remind people of that they already agree with Kamala Harris and Democrats, and disagree with Donald Trump and Republicans on issue after issue after issue from taxes to gun safety to a woman’s right to choose.”
Buttigieg described Harris in glowing terms.
“She represents a different generation, she represents a different style. We heard her talk about how, in her background as a prosecutor, part of what she did was defend the public from people who ran scams at for-profit universities, people who were responsible for sexual assaults — in other words, people like Donald Trump. And, at the same time, we heard this positive vision, this really energizing vision. You could see it,” Buttigieg said. “When my daughter, who’s about to be three, pointed to the TV and said, ‘What’s that?’ I just felt goosebumps, as I heard myself saying, ‘That’s Kamala Harris, she’s going to be the next President.’”
Buttigieg ran a failed presidential campaign in 2020. Buttigieg and his life partner Chasten Buttigieg adopted newborn fraternal twins in 2021.
