Former President Barack Obama reportedly told a crowd of donors that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg could not win the presidency because “he’s gay” and “short,” according to a book on the 2020 presidential election.

Obama made his remarks about the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor during an October 2019 dinner event in New York in front of a crowd of black corporate donors, according to a book by NBC’s Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes of the Hill.