Rachel Maddow asks Pete Buttigieg if he’d be Kamala Harris’s running mate

Lesbian MSNBC host Rachael Maddow asked gay Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg whether he would be willing to serve as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate this fall and potentially become the first out LGBTQ+ vice president in U.S. history.

“When you endorsed Vice President Harris, you said you’d do all you can to help her win,” Maddow asked Buttigieg on her show last night. “Would you serve as her vice president if she asked you to?”

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“I will do all that I can to help elect Kamala Harris,” Buttigieg said.

“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.”

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He then attacked Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) – the Republican vice presidential candidate – for his “inability to show us that he believes in anything in any durable way.”

Maddow pressed him for an answer to her question about being Harris’s running mate: “I don’t mean to be weird… But if she asked, are you saying you wouldn’t say no?”

“Sure,” he responded. “We’re just not in that mode right now. You know, we’re on the second day since the president made his decision, and I trust her.”

“By the way, few people in the country know more about the vice presidency and about the weight of that decision than she does. 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.”

Speculation has been swirling around who Harris will pick as her running mate since President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection this fall and endorsed Harris. Democratic Party leaders immediately lent their to Harris, including the delegates who will ultimately decide who the nominee is at next month’s Democratic National Convention.

Buttigieg has been among the names discussed in the media and on social media as a possible running mate due to his popularity with the American people and his ability to articulate Democratic principles in media appearances.

A Wall Street Journal reporter posted on X earlier today that several Democrats have been sent requests by Harris’s campaign for vetting materials, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, another much-discussed possible running mate, said he has not been asked to submit the information. Buttigieg was not mentioned.

Harris' campaign has requested vetting materials from potential VPs, including Cooper (NC), Kelly (AZ), Shapiro (PA), Whitmer (MI), Walz (MN) + Pritzker (IL), according to a person familiar. Beshear told CNN he hasn't been asked to submit info at this point.

— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) July 23, 2024

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