Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris’s debate practice

Pete Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential hopeful, has played the role of Vice President Pence in mock debates with Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), according to Bloomberg.

The choice to cast Buttigieg reportedly came because of his familiarity with Pence, who was governor of Indiana when Buttigieg was mayor of South Bend.

After virtually tying with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Iowa caucuses, Buttigieg dropped out of the Democratic primary days before Super Tuesday, promptly throwing his support behind now-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 

Harris and Pence will debate on Oct. 7 in Salt Lake City, which will be moderated by USA Today’s Susan Page. That debate comes a week after Biden and President Trump will debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 29. 

Harris, a former prosecutor, is known to perform well in debates, with conservatives often pointing to the time she accused Biden of siding with segregationist senators in the 1970s against federal requirements to bus Black children to predominantly white schools.

“He’s a good debater. So, I’m so concerned, like I can only disappoint,” Harris said of Pence at a fundraiser Monday, according to Bloomberg. 

Harris’s debate prep is reportedly being led by Karen Dunn, an attorney at Paul Weiss, who was a campaign aide to Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) team when he was the running mate of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill and declined to comment to Bloomberg.