Buttigieg Says Voters Can ‘Look Past’ His Sexuality Amid VP Speculation

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has a long list of potential VP picks, and Pete Buttigieg is reportedly one of them . The Secretary of Transportation stopped by TMZ on Wednesday, where the hosts repeatedly tried to get him to confirm or deny that he wanted the job.

Although Buttigieg declined to give an answer on that front, he did respond to host Harvey Levin’s question about his potential status as the first openly gay running mate. Levin asked him, “I’m wondering how you would evaluate the significance of something like that.”

“I’m not saying it’s not a thing, but I’m saying it’s been extraordinary how people look past that,” Buttigieg explained. “When I came out, I was in the middle of reelection in my home town 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.”

He continued, “When I ran for president, 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 .

“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.”

Earlier in the interview, co-host Charles Latibeaudiere asked Buttigieg what his campaign strategy would be if Kamala did pick him as her running mate. The secretary replied, “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.”

Buttigieg added, “I also want to remind the country that they already agree with her... 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,” Buttigieg said. “I know there’s more to politics than policy, but I think we just gotta remind everybody that they already agree with us.”

If he does become Harris’ running mate, Buttigieg has already demonstrated a knack for hitting Trump’s VP pick J.D. Vance where it hurts.

Read more at The Daily Beast.