Former Vice President Kamala Harris says Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) wasn’t her top pick as running mate in the 2024 election. She spilled on her first choice in the upcoming memoir “107 Days,” named after the amount of time she had as the Democratic nominee.
Harris revealed in an excerpt published Tuesday by The Atlantic that she actually wanted then-Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to be her vice-presidential nominee. Harris reportedly wrote that he “would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man.”
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“But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, a Black woman married to a Jewish man,” wrote Harris, per The Atlantic. “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.”
She continued, “And I think Pete also knew that — to our mutual sadness.”
Whether those fears were warranted will forever remain a mystery, as Harris chose Walz and ultimately lost the election to Donald Trump. The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire added Tuesday that Harris doesn’t divulge in her book whether Walz knew he was her second choice.
Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg are seen here at a meeting of the U.S. Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2022. Harris revealed in an excerpt of her book published by The Atlantic that Buttigieg was at the top of list of potential vice-presidential candidates for 2024. Yuri Gripas/Sipa/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The excerpt confirmed Buttigieg was at the top of an eight-person short list, and while it doesn’t name the other seven, rumored picks ahead of the election included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
Harris reportedly described Buttigieg in her memoir as “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.” She added, “I love Pete. I love working with Pete.”
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“He and his husband, Chasten, are friends,” Harris continued.
The former prosecutor conceded in a previously published excerpt that she made a mistake by not advising her former boss, Joe Biden, against pursuing reelection in 2024. Biden dropped out of the race in July, giving Harris the titular “107 days” to win voters over.
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