Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested his former boss President Biden’s decision to run for reelection “maybe” hurt Democrats in last year’s presidential election.
“Right now, with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that’s the case,” Buttigieg told reporters following a town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the liberal group VoteVets on Tuesday.
“We’re also not in a position to wallow in hindsight. We’ve got to get ready for some fundamental tests of the future of this country and this party, some of which are going on this very year, and many which will come next year,” he continued.
Buttigieg’s comments come amid the release of a number of books detailing the end of Biden’s presidency in which he came under intense scrutiny over his fitness for office.
When asked if Biden experienced cognitive decline while in office, Buttigieg said, “every time I needed something from him and from the West Wing, I got it.”
Buttigieg noted that he worked closest with Biden was during the aftermath of Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Md., last year.
“The same president that the world saw addressing that was the same president I was in the Oval with insisting that we do a good job and do right Baltimore and that’s characteristic of my experience with him,” Buttigieg said.
The town hall in the early contest state has stoked speculation of a possible presidential run from Buttigieg in 2028. Buttigieg told reporters on Tuesday he is not running for office at the moment.
“Right now I’m not running for anything,” Buttigieg said. “Part of what’s exciting and compelling about an opportunity like this is to be campaigning for values and ideas rather than a specific electoral campaign. So that’s what I’m about but of course it means a lot to hear that the people who supported me then continue to believe in what I have to say.”
