Pete Buttigieg Ends His Presidential Bid
Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay candidate to launch a serious campaign to become President of the United States, has ended his presidential bid with a speech that touched on the historic nature of his candidacy and the political reality that he didn’t see a route to the Democratic nomination.
“The path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy if not for our cause,” he told a crowd of supporters, who chanted “2024! 2024!” at one point.
Buttigieg suggested that he did not want to remain in the race and be a spoiler. “We must recognize that at this point in the race, the best way to keep faith with those goals and ideals is to step aside and help bring our party and country together,” he said
His husband, Chasten, who was a prominent part of the campaign, choked up at points as he introduced Buttigieg, telling the crowd, “I told Pete to run because I knew there were other kids in this country who needed to believe in themselves too.”
Buttigieg was the first openly gay presidential candidate to win a nomination contest, after he won the most delegates in the Iowa caucuses. As he hugged and kissed his husband on stage, it was less than five years ago that same sex marriage was legalized across the country.
Buttigieg told the crowd, “We send a message to every kid out there wondering if whatever marks them out as different means they are somehow destined to be less than. To see that someone who once felt that exact same way can become a leading American presidential candidate, with his husband by his side.”
Some of his showbiz supporters reacted to his decision to end his candidacy with a prediction that he had a big future.
“I am proud of Mayor Pete and what he has accomplished,” wrote George Takei. “I see him going all the way to the White House one day.”
The former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, surprised the country as he continued to gather support among white moderates throughout the race, but he ultimately never managed to truly make a dent in any other base. Even the LGBTQ community largely flocked to other candidates, namely Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
All the same, having an openly gay candidate echoed the sentiment we’ve been seeing in local races throughout the country. America is growing more accepting towards LGBTQ candidates taking higher political offices. While Pete was often criticized both for his lack of experience and for being a moderate when many folks in the LGBTQ community are currently in favor of more progressive candidates, the fact that he made it this far will serve as inspiration to young LGBTQ folks across the country.
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9 Comments
Malik
March 02, 09:07Choked up reading this. Need to find the video.
Mitch
March 02, 14:29Pete was never going to be a choice for any smart person. I’m still glad for the visibility, though.
Pink Panther
March 02, 14:37Whoa, seriously??? I mean, I haven’t been paying much attention to the Democratic race, but it comes as a real surprise to me that he’s not a favorite, especially of the LGBT community.
Black Dynasty
March 02, 14:56His record on fixing laws that affected people of colour even in the town he’s mayor of left a lot to be desired.
He might be gay, but he’s still very much a white male and has all the associated privileges…
Pink Panther
March 02, 15:02Wow. Oh wow.
Obi
March 03, 05:21The only positive about his candidacy was giving LGBTQ folks an opportunity to be able to do what others deemed as impossible. Aside that, never really liked the dude…Starting with his home city where he is a mayor, he has a proven track record of undermining people of color, and really doesn’t have any public service and or public policy experience, more so a stooge for the White upper class because he literally shares their ideology. So forgive me when I say I wouldn’t have voted for him even if he won the primaries.
Shiera Seastar Targaryen
March 02, 22:59Bernie Sanders will be a better in fact best president for them..
More Taxes for the rich ..
Free Education to University level
Free healthcare.
All the rich people hate him…
Pete BUTTplug is a puppet of the rich corporations like Trump
Obi
March 03, 05:50Bernie may be a good candidate but man, his ideologies are dangerously over-the-edge liberal. He’s the opposite of Trump; extreme, blunt, very staunch on their ideas and would push it thru even if it means burning bridges. For instance, the student loan forgiveness program looks good on paper, but canceling Trillions in debt by taxing Wall Street that controls America’s banks is more like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The reason is because it’s people like us that would indirectly pay for these taxes thru product and service fees. When last have you heard a US Mega bank posted a loss? Even Wells Fargo, the third largest US bank that was fined $3 billion still posted a hefty profit and that’s because the average consumer pays the price.
And when you think about Medicare for all, this is even more concerning seeing how corrupt and greedy the medical field is. At the moment, Medicare runs at a loss..Imagine a countrywide, single payer system wherein medical billing cost outweighs premium..I can only think of one word…COLLAPSE.
Policies such as these are more scary than Trump shielding the rich by providing tax havens and passing it on to the average American. I just think with Bernie, America would declare bankruptcy sooner than expected because there is only so much Bernie can give back in the name of social equality. Forgive the long epistle, but I don’t think Bernie is the right candidate. I would rather vote Biden than Bernie, but for sure Bernie over Trump.
Which name did I use last?
March 03, 11:48I came here to write the same things. Bless you for sparing my tired, bony fingers lol. Buttigieg was “historic”, but was tone-deaf and hostile about minority concerns and troublingly over-ambitious; he also kept lying about black support that he really didn’t have. Sanders has all these “big progressive ideas”, but no idea how to actualize or pay for them. He has no economic or financial know-how whatsoever, and has accomplished shockingly little in his time in Congress. Biden at least has a track record of policy success. If one must vote for a progressive, please choose Warren; she actually understands how economies work, and has accomplished the single most important piece of financial reform in modern American history: the establishment of the CFPB.