Buttigieg Admits Biden’s Decision To Run For Reelection ‘Maybe’ Hurt Democrats

by Amanda MorleyMay 20, 2025, 6:06 pmNews >

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized former President Joe Biden‘s decision to run for a second term, suggesting that “most people would agree that that’s the case” that Biden hurt the party.

Making his debut in an Iowa rally on Tuesday, Buttigieg poked at President Donald Trump’s recent actions. He called out ousted National Security Advisor Mike Waltz for accidentally leaking classified information in a group chat and Trump for accepting a $400 million jet from Qatar. But Buttigieg steered clear of Biden during his hour-long speech.

Many saw the rally as an early test for a potential 2028 presidential campaign.

This comes as recent reports reveal Biden’s mental cognitive skills have been on the decline for years.

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On Sunday, Biden announced that he’s been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

In a new book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, the authors wrote about the obvious decline in Biden’s cognitive skills, particularly surrounding his memory.

Biden advisers discussed the possibility of transporting the former president in a wheelchair due to physical deterioration in his bones.

Buttigieg was very supportive when Biden announced his decision to run for a second term.

Following Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump in June 2024, Buttigieg remained firmly supportive of Biden’s choice to stay in the race and denied any rumors of health-related issues.

“Every time I needed something from him, from the West Wing I got it,” he said at the time. “And the time I worked closest with him in his last year was around the Baltimore Bridge collapse. And I want to tell you is that the same president the world saw addressing that, was the president that I was involved with.”

James Carville, a Democratic strategist, criticized Buttigieg’s shift in tone, saying, he should have “said something when it meant something.”

The Trump administration released audio this week of Biden struggling to answer questions and remember dates in a 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur.