Overview
- Excerpts from Kamala Harris’s forthcoming memoir, 107 Days, published by The Atlantic, say Pete Buttigieg was her first choice for running mate in 2024 but that a Black woman and an openly gay man on one ticket posed “too big of a risk.”
- Harris wrote that Buttigieg would have been an ideal partner and praised his ability to communicate with conservatives, while a person familiar with their talks said they did not discuss her reasoning.
- Harris ultimately selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and the Harris–Walz ticket lost the 2024 election to President Donald Trump and JD Vance.
- Buttigieg told Politico he was “surprised” by Harris’s account and urged giving Americans more credit, saying voters gauge candidates by what they will do for people’s lives rather than identity.
- Other excerpts fault Biden’s 2024 reelection bid as “recklessness,” and the book’s Sept. 23 release is set to extend an internal Democratic debate over representation versus perceived electability.