Pete Buttigieg's exit interview

Pence to the inauguration? Plus: Another voice outside I-465

In the heat of the 2020 Democratic primary, Joe Biden attacked Pete Buttigieg in a now-deleted, scathing digital ad called “Pete’s Record” — mocking him for doing little more than installing “decorative lights under bridges” as mayor of “small town” South Bend.

Nearly five years and several political lifetimes later, that ad is water under one of the 12,300 bridges under construction or repair as part of Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law. And it was Buttigieg, who Biden has since compared to his late son Beau, who oversaw the legislation’s implementation as Transportation secretary. Yet Biden has also recently expressed some frustration about the law, telling USA Today, “We would’ve been a hell of a lot better off had we been able to go much harder at getting some of these projects in the ground quicker.”

In an exit interview with me, conducted partly on the campus of Notre Dame in December and later over the phone this month, Buttigieg defended implementation of the infrastructure law, even as he acknowledged it didn’t deliver huge rewards in the 2024 election.

“I think what the president was getting at is an impatience we all feel about the recognition and credit that this work deserves,” he said. “But just the nature of the beast with this infrastructure work is that it takes longer than a political cycle to get it done.”

Buttigieg also spoke about the difficulty of governing when the truth seems up for grabs, Elon Musk’s role in the incoming Trump administration and chopping wood in his adopted hometown of Traverse City, where he’ll mull a future that could include either a Michigan gubernatorial bid in 2026 or a 2028 presidential campaign.

• ON WHETHER HE’LL ROOT FOR Michigan State or the University of Michigan—or stay with Notre Dame: “I love my new home, but I can’t ever forget where I came from. And by the way, I’m very excited about the Irish right now.”

• ON NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH MARCUS FREEMAN’S EXTENSION:

  “It’s crazy to think he’s younger than I am. And it’s a job where not unlike some jobs in public life, he gets withering criticism for anything that doesn’t go perfectly. But look at what he’s done with this program. It’s just incredible. I went back for that first playoff game and hadn’t been to Notre Dame stadium in a while. The energy was just amazing.”