No, Kamala Harris’ comments about running with Pete Buttigieg are not homophobic - here’s why

Former US vice president and Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris will open up about her experience running for the top job in her memoir 107 Days – a book which also reveals that the politician once considered having ex-transport secretary Pete Buttigieg as her running mate instead of Tim Walz, but decided against it.

In an excerpt published in The Atlantic ahead of the book’s release on Tuesday, Harris writes that Buttigieg, who is gay, “would have been an ideal partner – if I were a straight white man”.

She continues: “We were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a Black woman, 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.”

It’s the latest excerpt to spark controversy, after another extract – also published by The Atlantic – saw Harris describe Joe Biden’s refusal to drop out of the 2024 presidential election as “reckless” and driven by “ego” and “ambition”.

Now, her remarks about Buttigieg have led some social media users to question whether Harris was being “homophobic”:

“This feels… homophobic,” wrote one Twitter/X account:

Except, many individuals rejected this idea, arguing that the former VP was actually being “realistic” about her chances if she were to pick Buttigieg:

Another argued that spinning Harris’ remarks into homophobia “further proves her point”:

A third praised the politician for “calling out homophobia and racism in one sentence” and despaired at America being “the land of disappointments”:

Elsewhere, one account imagined the alternative future where there would be “two queens in the White House”:

And another said Harris’ remarks were “really mother”:

Buttigieg has since responded to Harris’ comments about him in 107 Days, telling Politico on Thursday that he was “surprised” to learn of them and that her reservations were “not something that we ever talked about”.

“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,” he said.

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