Pete Buttigieg says voters are ready for a gay vice president

Out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg believes that, if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris chooses him as her vice presidential running mate, voters wouldn’t mind the fact that he’s gay. In fact, a recent poll suggests this as well, with voters preferring him and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) from a list of Harris’s possible running mates.

“I’m not saying [homphobia] not a thing, but I’m saying it’s been extraordinary how people look past that,” Buttigieg — the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana — recently told the celebrity gossip website TMZ.com. “When I came out, I was in the middle of reelection in my hometown in Mike Pence’s Indiana, and I wound up getting a higher proportion of the vote than the first time, because the city I was mayor of thought I did a good job.”

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“When I ran for president [in 2020],” he continued, “part of how I won Iowa was that I wound up doing especially well in right-leaning and conservative counties, these counties that voted for Obama and then voted for Trump.”

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“So what that tells me is whoever you are and whatever your personal biography or attributes are, if you can explain to people what you have to offer and get them to believe in you and your vision,” Buttigieg said, “despite all of the things that stand in the way of fairness in this country, the truth is it’s extraordinary what people can and will do.”

When asked about his campaign strategy if Kamala selects him as her running mate, he said, “My strategy is going to be the same no matter what, and that is to tell the world about the kind of leader Kamala Harris is.”

“I also want to remind the country that they already agree with her,” he continued. “Donald Trump’s big economic policy is tax cuts for the rich. Americans disagree with them, and they agree with Kamala Harris, who thinks that the rich ought to pay their fair share… Americans believe in a woman’s right to choose, Donald Trump demolished the right to choose. It’s one of the few campaign promises he actually kept.”

“You can go through issue and issue,” he added. “I know there’s more to politics than policy, but I think we just gotta remind everybody that they already agree with us.”

What is Kamala's strategy to beat Donald Trump? One of her possible VP picks – @PeteButtigieg – came on TMZ Live to discuss! pic.twitter.com/lrZDd3Q7Lo

— TMZ Live (@TMZLive) July 25, 2024

Buttigieg and Whitmer recently ranked at the top of an NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll taken Monday that asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters, “Who would you most like to see selected as the Democratic nominee for Vice President?”

Buttigieg and Whitmer tied for first, both getting support from 21% of the respondents. The other choices in the poll included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

Shapiro came in third at 17%; Kelly got 13%; Cooper, Beshear, and Moore got 8%; and Pritzker 7%.

Earlier this week, lesbian MSNBC host Rachael Maddow asked Buttigieg whether he would be willing to serve as Harris’s running mate and potentially become the first out LGBTQ+ vice president in U.S. history.

“She’s going to make that decision,” Buttigieg responded, dodging the question. “She’s going to do it based on what’s best for the country, best for the party, and best for the ticket. I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is the next president because it’s so important.”

“By the way, few people in the country know more about the vice presidency and about the weight of that decision than she does,” he added. “I very much trust her to make the choice that makes sense to her, that is right for the party, and that’s right for the country.”

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