Pressed on 2024, Buttigieg says ‘we are squarely focused on the job at hand’

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday said the Biden administration is focused on the job at hand in response to questions about if President Biden would run for reelection in 2024.

“It’s 2021,” Buttigieg said when asked about speculation over a Biden reelection bid. There has also been chatter about Buttigieg and Vice President Harris mounting presidential campaigns of their own in 2024. 

“And the whole point of campaigns and elections is when they go well you get to govern. And we are squarely focused on the job at hand. I am excited to be part of a team led by the president and the vice president and I think the teamwork that got us to this point is really just beginning,” he added. 

Buttigieg is traveling with Harris to Charlotte, N.C., to tout the bipartisan infrastructure law and discuss how it will benefit North Carolinians. 

“As Transportation secretary, I get to be the face of a lot of these investments that we’re doing, but we would not be here without the leadership of the vice president, as well as the president, of course, and so many others. So, I am glad we’re able to shine a light on that today,” Buttigieg said when asked if today’s event represents a united front with Harris. 

Buttigieg and Harris are slated to receive a tour of the public transit facility at the Charlotte Area Transit System’s Bus Garage, meet with transit workers and deliver remarks on Thursday.

Speculation about 2024 has grown recently in light of Biden’s poor approval ratings and a disappointing outcome in the off-year elections for Democrats. Biden will also be 81 in 2024, which has led to questions over whether he would run again. Harris is seen as the obvious successor.

Harris said in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last month that the 2024 presidential race is not even being discussed in the White House when asked a direct question about a reelection bid from the president.