Now that he's emerged as the people's choice in the Kamala Harris Veepstakes, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is suddenly ubiquitous.
Aside from stumping for VP Harris out on the campaign trail and co-hosting fundraisers with his husband, Chasten, Secretary Pete has been making multiple TV appearances showcasing just how good he is at boosting Democrats with his dueling secret weapons: facts and statistics.
Whether he's dunking on Donald Trump for ducking a debate with VP Harris, eviscerating her former opponent, or busting Bill Maher, Buttigieg can shut down all the naysayers in a calm voice that always commands attention.
Secretary Pete doesn't take the weekends off, either. On Saturday, he appeared on The Interview, a podcast from The New York Times. The Times was particularly harsh on President Biden and the drop in subscriptions reflects reader reaction to a recent shift to the right. So it's refreshing to have Secretary Pete letting them and everyone else know that racial attacks on the Vice President--especially calling her a "DEI hire"--are fully unacceptable.
Saying it's “a bad look” for Republicans, Buttigieg noted that even their own leadership has been forced to acknowledge that racism is a bad campaign strategy.
“You can tell” because Speaker Mike Johnson is already trying to distance himself from that line of attack against VP Harris.
“You got somebody like Mike Johnson, who is a very, very conservative figure … telling his own caucus, like, ‘Hey, cool it,’” Buttigieg said. “He’s basically saying that they are embarrassing the party, and I think acknowledging that they are diminishing the party’s chances by indulging in that kind of rhetoric.”
The potential V-Pete (I really should start trademarking all the nicknames I come up with for politicians) is also one of the few Democrats who regularly appears on Fox News and repeatedly shuts down whichever unfortunate talking head drew the short straw and had to literally face the truth.
On Sunday, Secretary Pete returned to the Fox News desk and addressed all of the lies Donald Trump tells when it comes to MAGA's favorite fear-based topics: abortion, immigration, and crime.
He's just so, so good at this.