Kamala Harris Hints at Pete Buttigieg’s Future Ambitions in New Memoir

Kamala Harris Hints at Pete Buttigieg’s Future Ambitions in New Memoir

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is set to release her highly anticipated memoir, which offers insights into the tumultuous 2024 election cycle. In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad shared that the book subtly suggests a potential presidential run for former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in 2028.

Conrad praised Buttigieg as one of the Democratic Party’s strongest communicators. She expressed hope that Harris’s acknowledgment of Buttigieg in her memoir would encourage him to consider another bid for the presidency. Conrad stated, “I think her saying that hopefully opens up a door for Pete to run again for president, and we’ll see where all that lands and whether the country is ready to have him lead us.”

Insights from Harris’s Memoir

Harris’s book, titled “107 Days,” will be officially released soon, with a few excerpts already making headlines. Among the revelations, The Atlantic reported that Harris had initially considered Buttigieg as her running mate before ultimately selecting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

In one excerpt, Harris reflected on Buttigieg’s suitability as a partner, stating, “Buttigieg would have been an ideal partner—if I were a straight white man.” This candid admission highlights the societal complexities surrounding her decision-making process.

She elaborated, acknowledging the unprecedented nature of her candidacy as 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,” Harris wrote, indicating that enlisting a gay man as her running mate presented significant challenges.

The Aftermath of the 2024 Election

Following the disappointing November 2024 election results, where President Donald Trump secured re-election, numerous media experts criticized Harris’s choice of Walz. Many argued that candidates like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro or Arizona Senator Mark Kelly might have improved her chances against Trump.

For Conrad, mentioning Buttigieg in her memoir acknowledges his status as a capable national leader. She emphasized that Buttigieg’s experience could make him a viable candidate for the next presidential cycle, recalling his previous campaign in 2020, during which he ultimately endorsed President Joe Biden.

“We won’t know whether if she had added Pete as her running mate, if that would have changed anything,” Conrad remarked. “But I think it’s a good sort of nod towards Pete that he is a national leader that we should be looking towards as potentially being someone that could win the nomination in 2028.”

Defending the Selection of Tim Walz

Conrad also defended Walz, referring to him as a “happy warrior” capable of connecting with the working-class electorate. She believes that the dynamics of running mate selection involve numerous considerations.

She elaborated, stating, “There’s a lot of calculations and amount of time about what we would need for a winning ticket. Personally, I thought that Gov. Walz was a fantastic running mate for her.”

Reflections from Pete Buttigieg

In response to the memoir’s excerpts, Buttigieg conveyed his belief that voters are influenced more by issues than by categories of identity. He emphasized, “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.”

Kamala Harris’s Opportunity to Tell Her Story

Conrad described the memoir as an opportunity for Harris to articulate her version of the challenging 2024 campaign. The memoir includes passages where Harris notes Biden “got tired” on the campaign trail but denies any organized effort within the White House to conceal Biden’s deteriorating condition.

“It’s good that she’s sort of getting an opportunity to tell her version of events and be able to be more fully herself,” Conrad commented. She suggested that Harris felt constrained during her tenure as Vice President and as a candidate, which this book allows her to address.

Fox News Digital has made efforts to contact representatives for both Harris and Buttigieg, although responses have not yet been received. The anticipation surrounding Harris’s memoir and its implications for future Democratic leadership continues to grow.