Well, my cousin Bill Costner's son Kevin thinks a lot like me, though we have never met.

I have been saying the nominees will be Bloomberg and Buttigieg, and saying that is now my preference. But I love it that Kevin is putting himself out there for Buttigieg.

45 minutes ago

By Reid J. Epstein

And now a word from Kevin Costner, about Buttigieg.

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Kevin Costner spoke at an event for Pete Buttigieg in Exeter on Monday.Credit...Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

EXETER, N.H. — It was an odd political trick, suggesting that maybe the candidate he was speaking for might not be the only one who can solve the nation’s problems, but Kevin Costner wasn’t there to deliver a firebrand introduction.

Mr. Costner traveled with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., during the final day of New Hampshire campaigning. He delivered opening remarks for Mr. Buttigieg’s closing rally Monday night at Exeter High School.

But instead of a speech enthusiastically backing Mr. Buttigieg, Mr. Costner spoke for eight minutes and gave what could have been a monologue from one of his sappier films.

“He doesn’t compete to be the loudest,” Mr. Costner said of Mr. Buttigieg. “His silences are those of someone who is thinking.”

Mr. Costner did not implore the crowd to go out and volunteer and knock doors for Mr. Buttigieg. He was just there, he said, to tell them whom he is supporting. And that’s Mr. Buttigieg, he said, because the former mayor is a good listener.

“One person alone is not smart enough to have all the good ideas,” Mr. Costner said. “One party alone cannot have all the good ideas. So what we have to have is to have a candidate who has the good sense to not care where the good idea comes from. What we have to have is to have a president secure enough to let all Americans benefit without regard for who gets the credit for the good idea.”