Kamala Harris considered Pete Buttigieg as running mate, thought a Black woman-gay man ticket too risky

Leaked pages from Harris’ memoir detail behind-the-scenes decisions, including her near-pick of Pete Buttigieg as running mate.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ memoir-meets-retrospective book “107 Days” is slated to hit shelves on Tuesday, September 23, and bits and pieces that have been released to promote it have been quite telling.  It turns out, Americans could’ve had a ticket that was diverse in multiple ways.

In a second alleged leak of pages from her book, provided to The Atlantic, Harris speaks about deciding on a running mate. While that nod eventually went to Minnesota Governor, and former Congressman Tim Walz, she was allegedly considering former Secretary of Transportation under the Obama administration, Pete Buttigieg—so much so that he was apparently the top choice, according to ABC News. She ultimately decided to go in a different direction because she thought it might be too risky with a Black woman and a gay man as the Democratic ticket—though we’ll never know.

“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,” Harris allegedly wrote in the memoir. 

Buttigieg was asked to react to the news and didn’t exactly agree with the rationale. He said he was “surprised.”

“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,” he told POLITICO. Buttigieg said he was “giving Americans more credit” for making tough decisions.

According to the leaked excerpt, Buttigieg, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear were also considered for the slot that would go to Walz. Apparently Harris’ consideration of Buttigieg—according to her book—was because he “is a sincere public servant with the rare talent of being able to frame liberal arguments in a way that makes it possible for conservatives to hear them.”

“107 Days” details Harris’ campaign for the Presidency (the shortest one in history) and the ups and downs of being on the campaign trail for the historic run for office. In the first excerpt from the book released to the public, we learned about a disconnect between office of the Vice President and that of President Biden’s, and she addressed questions about former President Biden’s decision to run for a second term, given some of the questions about his health and faculties. The first excerpt was quite telling in its candor, and this latest excerpt promises the entire book will be extremely revealing.

Kamala Harris’ book “107 Days” releases on September 23 if you’d like to get in line for a copy now.