Podcaster Steven Bartlett Pulls Clever Amazon Ruse to Get Pete Buttigieg to Reveal His 2028 Plans

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg offered his clearest indication yet that he is weighing a 2028 presidential bid after The Diary of a CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett used an Amazon interviewing technique to push him into revealing where he currently stands.

During the interview, released via YouTube on Monday, Buttigieg was discussing what Democrats needed to do differently to win back voters when Bartlett asked bluntly and directly whether he planned to seek the White House in 2028.

“I don’t know,” Buttigieg replied, explaining that every decision to seek office had been based on whether he believed he could offer something the moment required.

He continued: “I would have to believe – and this is how I’ve approached every every time I’ve decided to run for office – it’s looking at everything that the office seems like it needs, not just generally, but in that moment, and then looking at what I bring to the table and asking myself, OK, am I bringing something that’s different enough from what others are bringing and that fits like that moment.”

He added: “Like that’s what led me to run for mayor, which is a pretty unlikely move in South Bend, Indiana, when I was in my 20s. It’s what led me to run for president when I did, almost 8 years ago.”

Buttigieg first rose to national prominence after becoming mayor in 2011 at the age of 29, serving until 2020. He later launched an unexpectedly strong campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, winning the Iowa caucuses before ending his bid and endorsing former President Joe Biden, who later appointed him transportation secretary.

Unsatisfied with the answer, Bartlett shifted tactics, borrowing a hiring method he said his company had adopted from Amazon. Rather than accepting an uncertain answer, he asked Buttigieg to choose between four options: “strongly not inclined,” “not inclined,” “inclined,” or “strongly inclined” to run.

“I’ll use your own words here, Secretary,” Bartlett said, reminding Buttigieg of his past observation that “Politics often favors someone who is completely different to the current leader,” before quoting his own description of himself as “an intellectual young gay mayor from the Midwest.”

Initially resisting, Buttigieg said politicians often hesitate to answer such questions because “people are going to run with it and it’ll be this, like, news of the day thing.”

Pressed again, however, he conceded: “Look, I’m obviously not to one end or the other.”

After Bartlett confirmed that ruled out the two extreme options, Buttigieg revealed where he currently leaned.

“I think I’m, like, more inclined than not,” he admitted.

He quickly added a note of caution, stressing that any decision remained far from settled and that being a father of two children has “changed of all of my equations” when it comes to running.

“It’s just something that you really sit with and take seriously, which you should,” he added.

Watch above via YouTube.

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