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Pete Buttigieg TOO GAY to be vice president according to Kamala Harris
Former Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris said the quiet part out loud when she wrote in her new book, "107 Days," that her first choice for a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election was not Tim Walz — but Pete Buttigieg.
And not only did she admit that Walz was not her first choice, but that she didn’t pick Buttigieg as her running mate because he is gay.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who is gay, sat down with Harris for an interview and put her in the hot seat over her decision.
“I guess I’d ask you to just elaborate on that a little bit. It’s hard to hear with you running, as you know, you’re the first woman elected vice president, you’re a black woman and a South Asian woman elected to high office, very nearly elected president. To say that he couldn’t be on the ticket effectively because he was gay is hard to hear,” Maddow said, disappointed.
“No, no, no, that’s not what I said, that he couldn’t be on the ticket because he is gay,” Harris responded, before trying to explain herself.
“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, but I also realized it would be a real risk, no matter how, you know, I’ve been an advocate and an ally of the LGBT community my entire life,” she said.
BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler is floored.
“Imagine if this were a Republican saying what Kamala Harris just said. Imagine if a Republican went on cable news after having lost the presidential election,” Wheeler says.
“Imagine if a Republican said, ‘Actually, my first choice for vice presidential running mate, I decided against because he was gay.’ The left’s heads would explode. They would be screeching and screaming melting down like the wicked witch of the West, calling that Republican a bigot, a hateful homophobic bigot,” she continues.
And instead of admitting that she didn’t choose Buttigieg because he’s gay, she laid the blame at the feet of Americans who wouldn’t vote for him.
“Kamala Harris, her answer, she said she didn’t disqualify Pete Buttigieg because he’s gay, because she’s personally prejudiced. She disqualified — she decided not to choose him because he’s gay because you’re prejudiced,” Wheeler says.
“She didn’t have time to contend with the homophobic masses. She didn’t have time to re-educate the Christians, the terrible, hateful Christians who hate Pete Buttigieg because he’s gay,” she continues, adding, “She’s dripping with disdain for you, but she’s above board.”
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Kamala Harris reveals the real reason she avoided a gay running mate: 'It would be a real risk'
Former Vice President Kamala Harris lamented the fact that she passed up on Pete Buttigieg as her running mate in the 2024 election, citing concerns that having a gay man on the ticket would have sunk her candidacy.
In a rare interview following her historic loss in November, Harris reflected on the choices she made during the 2024 campaign that may have led to her downfall. Although Harris said she was enthusiastic about Buttigieg as a contender, she ultimately decided against selecting the former transportation secretary because having a gay man on the same ticket as a black woman "would be a real risk."
'The stakes were so high.'
In Harris' new book "107 Days," the former vice president admitted that Buttigieg was her first choice and that he would have been an ideal running mate "if [she] were a straight man."
"To say that he couldn't be on the ticket, effectively, because he was gay, is hard to hear," MSNBC host Rachel Maddow told Harris.
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Harris initially tried to deny that her choice was made based on Buttigieg's identity but rather because of the narrow window she had to make the crucial decision. Despite her attempt to soften the blow, Harris acknowledged that the stakes were "so high" that she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) instead.
"No, no, no, that’s not what I said,” Harris responded.
“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, but I also realized it would be a real risk."
“It wasn’t about any prejudice on my part but that we had such a short period of time," Harris added. "And the stakes were so high. I think Pete is a phenomenal, phenomenal public servant. And I think America is and would be ready for that. But when I had to make that decision with two weeks to go, you know, and maybe I was being too cautious ... but that's the decision I made.”
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Buttigieg later said he was "surprised" to see the excerpt of Harris' highly anticipated book, saying he believes in "giving Americans more credit."
“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,” Buttigieg told Politico.
“You just have to go to voters with what you think you can do for them,” Buttigieg added. “Politics is about the results we can get for people and not about these other things.”
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