Jon Stewart Asks Pete Buttigieg if Biden Feels ‘Hurt’ Over Excitement for Kamala Harris: ‘If That Were Me, It Would Hurt My Feelings’

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart asked US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Monday whether President Joe Biden had any hurt feelings over the excitement for Vice President Kamala Harris following his withdrawal from the 2024 race.

During an appearance on Stewart’s show, Buttigieg revealed that he only found out about Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race and endorse Harris for president after his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, saw a post on social media.

“I found out the way everybody did,” he told Stewart. “I was actually on a plane, fittingly enough, taxiing in, and Chasten was sitting next to me and checking Twitter and saw the post, and so we found out the same way everybody else did. And yeah, ever since, I think a lot of us, you know, our heads are spinning. So much has changed. But part of what’s changed is this incredible energy that we have now.”

He continued, “Obviously, you know, she represents a lot of continuity with the values of the Biden-Harris campaign and the Biden-Harris administration, but also a different messenger, a different style, a different approach, and people are clearly really fired up and excited about it. I know I am.”

Stewart then asked, “This is such a strange question, and I don’t know if you’ve spoken to him or not, but like, do you think President Biden sees that and is like, ‘Oh, fine,’ like, or is he– I would imagine it would hurt your feelings. If that were me, it would hurt my feelings.”

“I don’t know,” Buttigieg replied:

I think part of what he achieved with what’s a really extraordinary thing– I think even now we might be underselling how world-historically rare it is to be literally the most powerful person in the world, to lay power aside, right? Just because it’s the right thing to do. But in doing so, I also think he’s consolidated his own standing as one of America’s great presidents, and I also think he’s very conscious that that means sprinting through the tape and continuing to deliver for the next six months.

Stewart questioned, “What of the narrative about like, ‘They bullied him! He was bullied!’ Is that even– Can you do that to a president? Can you be like, ‘Get out!’ and then the president would be like, ‘Stop yelling at me!’?”

“No! I mean, that’s the thing, right? It was his call and he made that call,” Buttigieg concluded. “And people may second guess the manner of it or the timing of it, but at the end of the day, it was his choice, he made that choice, and it must have been an extraordinarily difficult choice, but also the right choice.”

Watch above via The Daily Show.

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