Transportation Secretary and vice presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said the public has yet to see the full extent of Kamala Harris’s humor and tenacity, traits he said she has displayed much more of in private.
Buttigieg, 42, told The New York Times in a wide-ranging interview: “I think people know this, but she’s not just impressive, she’s smart and funny.”
“I think what’s interesting is that not only television but the Internet have realized that she has a great sense of humor. And it’s also telling that the Republican Party has tried to attack her for it and hasn’t been successful.”
And though he initially sidestepped a question about how the current vice president should differentiate herself from Biden, Buttigieg stressed that Harris should “explain how she contributed to the job that brought inflation down to three percent in this country.”
He added that the Democratic candidate must highlight the “difference between her economic proposals and the clearly inflationary proposals of Donald Trump.”
Buttigieg, 42, sat down with The New York Times to talk about his fellow Democrat, who he is currently working with during the Biden administration, and is happy that his sense of humor is finally being seen by the public.
“I think people know that, but she’s not only awesome, she’s smart and funny,” he said. He also admitted that she needs to show America her report card and make clear what she’s done over the past four years.
“I would like to see her address the concerns that Americans have,” he said.
Bernie Sanders issued a similar statement earlier this week, saying that Boston Globe:(Harris) needs to have an agenda that addresses the crisis facing working families across the country.
“I think Democrats are going to have to be very, very clear about what their ideas are in the midst of massive income and wealth inequality.”
In his latest interview, Buttigieg recalled one occasion when he actually got to see Harris “in action” instead of her usually playful self, when he had to mock the debate with her while playing the role of Mike Pence, an experience he called “a very strange psychological thing.”
“You often hear people say, ‘This person is so fun and relaxed,’ but that doesn’t come across on television,” he said. “I think she’s a very compelling leader.”
Buttigieg still defended President Joe Biden, however, despite his disastrous and troubling debate performance in early June, saying he is “really good at being president and, in my opinion, still is.”
The twins’ father recalled one occasion when he actually saw Harris “in action” rather than her usually playful self, when he had to mock her by debating while playing the role of a fake Mike Pence, an experience he called “a very strange psychological thing.”
Harris took over Biden’s campaign against Trump after he dropped out of the race
As for why he thinks the Democratic Party hasn’t put more effort into finding new candidate options (like Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, who were the first names mentioned after Biden dropped out of the race), Buttigieg said the easiest thing to do was to look to Harris.
“I think a lot of people looked at her, looked at what she brought, looked at the importance of quickly uniting the party and came to the conclusion that backing her was the best way to do that,” he told The Times.
He also believes Trump fever will die down, calling Vance’s “childless cat lady” comments and the former president’s labeling of Harris as a “bully” a “bad look for Republicans.”
Buttigieg also believes Trump fever will die down, calling Vance’s “childless cat lady” comments and the former president’s labeling of Harris as a “bully” “a bad look for Republicans.”
‘The fact that they can’t think of anything else to do besides address issues of race and gender is not only revealing of some of the worst undercurrents in the Republican Party today, it’s also deeply unimaginative, because it means they can’t talk about how any of this is going to make people’s lives better.
“In other words, they cannot conceive of a policy that is not just a matter of personalities.”
Meanwhile, Harris led Trump in a new national poll conducted two days after Biden endorsed her.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Harris leading Trump by 2 percent in a head-to-head general election matchup as she enters the campaign trail in place of Biden, an ailing 81-year-old.
Buttigieg also spoke to HBO’s Bill Maher last week about the attempted assassination of Trump and the role played by Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who has since resigned.
“I think President Biden and the administration will do the right thing,” he said, before Cheatle resigned as the nation called for his resignation.
In his interview with The Times, Buttigieg also commented on Harris’ campaign strategy of veering away from previous strict Democratic attacks on Trump that he is bad for democracy and instead calling him “weird.”
Harris has pulled ahead of Trump in a new national poll conducted two days after Biden endorsed her.
Several polls conducted amid President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his reelection bid show Kamala Harris trailing Donald Trump in the 2024 race, but one released Tuesday finally showed the vice president pulling ahead of the former president.
“I think we’re doing both,” he said. “We’re talking about the implications for democracy and that it’s clear that this is an odd person who is becoming increasingly odd, and you have to ask yourself: Is that the kind of person you want in charge of the country?”
As to whether or not Buttigieg will be on Harris’s vice presidential shortlist (or even if he wants to be), she remained silent.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to speak like that knowing that the person who has to make that decision is her, not me,” he said.