Pete Buttigieg signals 2028 US presidential run: ‘You save me a seat. I’ll be there’
At the National Action Network’s 35th annual convention, the Democrat was asked if he would run for office again
By Aaron Sugg
Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has signalled a potential 2028 US presidential election run.
During a speech at the National Action Network’s 35th annual convention in New York over the weekend, the Democrat, who is gay, was asked if he would run for office again, following his 2020 election bid.
American civil rights activist and NAN founder and president, the Rev. Al Sharpton, put forward the question following a conversation with former vice president Kamala Harris.
“You save me a seat. I’ll be there” – Pete Buttigieg on running for president in 2028
BREAKING: Pete Buttigieg plans to run for President in 2028.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) April 10, 2026
Al Sharpton: "When you ran for President, you met me and we went out to a well publicized lunch at Sylvia’s restaurant. Just so my calendar is clear, should I be reserving a table at Sylvia’s? Are you going to run… pic.twitter.com/5AkOujDrOi
Buttigieg responded: “You save me a seat. I’ll be there,” which has been widely viewed by the public as a clear indication he may run again.
Followed by a wave of cheers in the room, viewers were quick to take to social media, speculating about his 2028 presidential campaign.
“Breaking: Pete Buttigieg plans to run for President in 2028,” wrote one. “I would stand in line for hours to vote for Pete Buttigieg. He’s qualified, intelligent, well spoken, compassionate, and a unifier,” penned another.
“We didn’t have to be fighting this war” – Buttigieg criticising Donald Trump’s handling of inflation amid tensions with Iran
Earlier that day, Buttigieg appeared across multiple US media outlets, defending Democratic economic policy and criticising Donald Trump’s handling of inflation amid US tensions with Iran.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, he said: “We didn’t have to be fighting this war. What are we doing?” continuing to claim that a vast number of Americans feel the same way, and suggesting that under the Trump administration the US is at risk of civil war.
Back at the NAN convention, when Harris was asked by Sharpton if she plans to run for president again, the Democrat replied: “Listen, I might. I’m thinking about it.”
“I know what the job is. And I know what it requires” – Kamala Harris on her potential 2028 US presidential run
“I served for four years, being a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. I spent countless hours in my West Wing office, footsteps away from the Oval Office. I spent countless hours in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room. I know what the job is. And I know what it requires,” Harris said.
Buttigieg and Harris have remained friends and close colleagues, writing in her memoir 107 Days that the former Transportation Secretary was her first choice to be her vice president.
She praised him, describing Buttigieg as: “A sincere public servant with the rare talent of being able to frame liberal arguments in a way that makes it possible for conservatives to hear them.”
What did Harris say about Buttigieg in her memoir?
Though she ultimately chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate after arguing that a presidential bid featuring both a Black woman and a gay man was considered too big a risk.
The ticket ultimately lost to Trump, who was re-elected as president of the US in January 2025.
Buttigieg, who came out publicly in 2015, married his husband Chasten in 2018 and together are raising two children.