Pete Buttigieg revealed that he found out President Joe Biden was ending his reelection campaign in the same social media post that announced it to the rest of the world.
The Transportation Secretary discussed with Daily Show host Jon Stewart how Biden is doing after he ended his campaign and turned over the reins to Vice President Kamala Harris and whether he felt ‘bullied’ into doing so.
Buttigieg is being floated as a potential running mate for Harris, although new reports suggest she has narrowed it to three other men – Arizona Gov. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Questions continue to swirl over the events that led to Biden dropping out of the 2024 race – including whether Harris and others were involved in a ‘cover-up’ of the extent of the President’s cognitive decline.
‘Obviously, you know, she represents a lot of continuity with the values of the Biden-Harris campaign and the Biden-Harris administration, but also a different messenger, a different style, a different approach, and people are clearly really fired up and excited about it,’ Buttigieg said in the Monday interview.
‘I know I am.’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he found out about President Joe Biden ending his reelection campaign the same way everyone else did – in his social media post
Stewart then asked if this enthusiasm has ‘hurt Biden’s feelings,’ acknowledging it was a ‘strange question’ to ask but that there was clearly a divide between how voters felt about his candidacy versus his VP’s.
‘I don’t know,’ Buttigieg divulged.
‘I think even now we might be underselling how world-historically rare it is to be literally the most powerful person in the world, to lay power aside,’ the Transportation Secretary continued. ‘Just because it’s the right thing to do.’
Biden’s announcement on July 21 was no shock to most Americans. It came after weeks of pressure from within the Democratic Party for the 81-year-old to ‘pass the torch’ after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, 78, last month.
Harris, 59, quickly took over Biden’s campaign infrastructure and seamlessly transitioned to the de facto 2024 Democratic candidate last week when she earned enough support from delegates to win the nomination.
Buttigieg told Stewart that he didn’t know the announcement was coming.
Buttigieg is being floated as a potential vice presidential candidate for Harris as she narrows her search
‘I found out the way everybody did,’ he said, adding that his husband was the one who told him about it.
‘I was actually on a plane, fittingly enough, taxiing in, and Chasten was sitting next to me and checking Twitter and saw the post, and so we found out the same way everybody else did, Buttigieg said.
He admitted: ‘And yeah, ever since, I think a lot of us, you know, our heads are spinning. So much has changed. But part of what’s changed is this incredible energy that we have now.’
Stewart asked if Biden was pressured into ending his reelection bid.
‘No! I mean, that’s the thing, right? It was his call and he made that call,’ Buttigieg explained.
‘And people may second guess the manner of it or the timing of it, but at the end of the day, it was his choice, he made that choice, and it must have been an extraordinarily difficult choice, but also the right choice.’
Buttigieg said on Sunday that he thinks voters are now more concerned about Trump’s fitness for office – especially as he now faces a younger candidate in November.
‘I’m pretty sure voters are worried about the age and acuity of President Trump compared to Kamala Harris who represents being a generation younger,’ Buttigieg told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream. ‘And how could anybody not watch the stuff he’s saying, the rambling on the trail and not be just a little bit concerned?’
‘Americans are worried about him in lots of ways and he’s not running against President Biden anymore,’ he continued.
Harris took over Biden’s 2024 campaign infrastructure after he dropped out last weekend
Bream pressed Buttigieg on whether Harris knew the extent of Biden’s mental and physical decline as a new poll revealed a huge number of Americans think the VP was involved in a ‘cover-up.’
‘We’re all aware of how he’s doing,’ he said. ‘Our country has watched our president lead, and yes, we’ve also seen the fact that he’s 10 years older than he was years ago.’
‘But unlike Republicans, right, who in Trump’s personality cult will take a look at Donald Trump and say he’s perfectly fine even though he seemed unable to tell the difference between Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi, even though he’s rambling about electrocuting sharks and Hannibal Lecter, even though he is clearly older and stranger than he was when America first got to know him, they say he’s strong as an ox, leaps tall buildings in a single bounds,’ Buttigieg said.
He added: ‘We don’t have that kind of warped reality on our side.’
