Last August, we learned that former Transportation Secretary and mayor Pete Buttigieg was polling at zero percent with black voters.
Stephen A. Smith shared this while sitting on Bill Maher's panel and Maher was stunned by the numbers.
LOL: Stephen A. Smith delivers a brutally simple explanation for why 0% of Black people say they would vote for Pete Buttigieg.
— ManInAmerica (@ManInAmericapod) September 7, 2026
Bill Maher was stunned by the number.
“Black voters, zero. Zero! You don’t usually see zero anywhere. Zero’s low!” pic.twitter.com/FBNkXHDtlW
"Democratic primary voters, 16 percent, would support Buttigieg. That's the highest of any candidate," Maher said at the time.
"I don't believe it," Smith replied. "I think that's just a poll number. I can't see that happening."
"But wait. 16 percent. Black voters, zero," Maher said. "Zero. You don't usually see zero anywhere. Zero's low ... why do black voters, I mean, he's a nice guy."
"He doesn't move us. I respect the man, I've interviewed him before. Very nice man. Highly intelligent. But you gotta be able to move us, bro. He doesn't move us. You can speculate as to why that is," Smith explained.
And of course, last September we learned that Kamala Harris passed over Buttigieg because it was "too big of a risk" for her to run with a gay man.
In her book "107 Days," Harris wrote, Buttigieg "would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man. But 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."
Despite this, Buttigieg insists America is ready for a gay president.
Pete Buttigieg says ‘of course’ America is ready for a gay president https://t.co/WshBhs22Qj pic.twitter.com/N8hnN84Zo3
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 13, 2026
Welker read that above excerpt from Harris' book before addressing Buttigieg.
"She was essentially saying she didn't think America was ready for a gay vice president with a black woman at the top of the ticket. Let me ask you today, do you think America is ready for a gay president?" Welker asked.
"I wouldn't have run for president in the first place if I didn't believe that. Of course. And look, my experience in South Bend, Indiana, getting reelected with 80 percent of the vote after coming out, and my experience right now, traveling the country shows me that what's really on people's minds isn't about you, your identity as a candidate. It's about them, it's about their lives," Buttigieg replied.
Buttigieg ran in 2020 and dropped out on March 1, two days before Super Tuesday.
America was not ready for Buttigieg.
— XBradTC (@xbradtc) September 13, 2026
Yes, this.
What are his accomplishments?
— Ryan B (@Network_Guy8) September 13, 2026
He said bridges and roads were racist.
What does being gay have to do with being president? That's probably down towards the end of my list when looking at qualified presidential candidates.
— Jessa G. (@SweetGaelicGirl) September 13, 2026
How do Democrats think this will work when dealing with Islamic and African nations that criminalize and object to homosexuality?
There are dozens of reasons why Buttigieg is unfit to be President before that even comes into play. https://t.co/mwQcUK4a94
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) September 13, 2026
This is what it boils down to. Buttigieg was a terrible mayor, a terrible Transportation Secretary, and is unqualified to be president.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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