Pete Buttigieg Set To Host ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ This Week Following The End Of His Presidential Bid
Pete Buttigieg may not be vying for the White House anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s disappeared completely. The former Democratic presidential candidate announced that he will guest host an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live this Thursday, March 12, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Kimmel is currently hosting the revival of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in honor of the show’s 20th anniversary, which is why guests are filling in for him. During an interview on Today, Buttigieg said he was looking forward to appearing on the late-night show.
“We’re really excited for that. We’re lining up a great slate of guests. Sir Patrick Stewart is coming on. We’re very excited about that,” he said.
When asked if he would be delivering a monologue, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor said that he would.
“Hopefully some funnier minds than mine will be doing some writing for that, but I think it’s going to be fun.”
In the interview, Buttigieg also said he was excited to return to normalcy after the single-minded focus that can sometimes come with running for president.
“The thing about running a presidential campaign is you will have been focused on one thing and one thing only,” he commented. “It is nice to be able to zoom out and come back at life.”
In the aftermath of his decision to step back from the race, Buttigieg said that he would be traveling, thanking supporters, and spending some time with his husband, Chasten. In an interview with MSNBC, he said that he would find new ways to be productive once he returned, but wanted to go have some fun first, per The Wrap.
Watch @PeteButtigieg’s full exclusive interview with @craigmelvin about why he left the presidential race, what’s next for him and much more. pic.twitter.com/sDrSVJrO2z
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 9, 2020
Aside from the former mayor, Kimmel has featured other celebrity guest hosts in the past, like Channing Tatum, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kristen Bell.
Buttigieg’s newly discovered free time is a recent development. He was the first openly gay man to become a major presidential contender but formally dropped out of the race at the beginning of this month. Following his exit, he endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination.
In discussing his reason for leaving the race, Buttigieg said that his primary goal had never been solely to become president. Instead, he wanted to unite the Democratic Party to defeat Donald Trump, and he realized that the best way for him to be of service to that goal was to step aside as a candidate.
