Democratic VP contender Pete Buttigieg reveals what Kamala Harris is really like behind the scenes - and the key campaign move she should do differently to Biden

Transportation Secretary and VP hopeful, Pete Buttigieg, said the public is yet to learn the full extent of Kamala Harris' humor and tenacity - traits he said she has shown much more of in private. 

Buttigieg, 42, told The New York Times in a wide-ranging sit-down interview, 'I think people do know this, but she is not just impressive, she’s smart and funny.'

'I actually think what’s interesting, not just TV, but the internet has picked up on the fact that she has this great sense of humor. And it’s also revealing that the GOP has tried to attack her for it, and that’s fallen flat.' 

And while he at first avoided a question about how the current vice president should differentiate herself from Biden, Buttigieg stressed that Harris should 'explain how she’s contributed to the work that brought inflation back down to three percent in this country.'

He added the Democratic nominee must highlight the 'difference between her economic proposals and the clearly inflationary proposals of Donald Trump.'

'I’d like to see her reach those concerns that Americans have,' he said. 

Bernie Sanders issued a similar statement earlier this week, telling the Boston Globe: '[Harris] needs to have an agenda that speaks to the crisis facing working families all over this country.

'I think the Democrats are going to have to be very, very clear as to what ideas they have in the midst of massive income and wealth inequality.' 

In his latest interview, Buttigieg recalled a time he really got to see Harris 'in action' instead of her usually funny self when he had to mock debate her while playing the role of a Mike Pence - an experience he called 'a very strange psychological thing.' 

'So often you hear: "Oh, this person’s really funny and loose," but it doesn’t come through on TV,' he said.  'I think she's a very convincing leader.'    

However, Buttigieg still defended President Joe Biden, despite his disastrous and concerning debate performance earlier in June, saying he's 'really good at being president and in my view still is.' 

As for why he thinks the Democratic party hasn't put more effort into finding new nominee options - such as Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, who were early names thrown into the ring after Biden quit his campaign - Buttigieg said it was easiest to look toward Harris. 

'I think a lot of people looked at her, looked at what she brought, looked at the importance of quickly bringing the party together and reached that conclusion that backing her was the best way to do that,' he told The Times. 

He also thinks the Trump fever will die down - and called Vance's 'childless cat lady' comments and the former president labeling Harris a 'thug' a 'bad look for Republicans.' 

'The fact that they can't think of what else to do besides go right to race and gender isn't just revealing about some of the ugliest undercurrents in today's Republican Party, it's also just profoundly unimaginative, because it means that they can't speak to how any of this is going to make people's lives better.

'In other words, they can't conceive of a politics that isn't just about the personalities.'

Meanwhile, Harris has pulled ahead of Trump in a new national poll taken two days after Biden endorsed her. 

The Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Harris leading Trump by 2 percent in a head-to-head general election matchup as she hits the campaign in place of the ailing 81-year-old Biden.

Buttigieg also spoke with HBO's Bill Maher last week about the attempted assassination of Trump and the role Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who has since stepped down, played. 

'I believe that President Biden and the administration will do the right thing,' he said, prior to Cheatle stepping down as the nation called for her resignation. 

In his interview with The Times, Buttigieg also commented on Harris' campaign strategy of diverting from the previous Democratic straight-laced attacks on Trump that he's bad for democracy and leaning into calling him 'weird.' 

'I think we're doing both,' he said. 'We're talking about the implications for democracy and noting that he is obviously a strange person who's getting stranger, and you've got to ask yourself, is that the kind of person you want in charge of the country?'

As for whether or not Buttigieg will be on Harris' VP ticket - or even if he wants it - he remained mum. 

'I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk like that knowing that the person who needs to make that decision is the person who’s going to make it, and that's her. Not me,' he said.