About

Pete Buttigieg, also known as Mayor Pete, is an American politician, seeking the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election. He is a former naval intelligence officer and the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

History

In November 2011, Pete Buttigieg a Naval Reserve officer was elected the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana, becoming the second youngest mayor in South Bend history.

Three years into his first term, in 2014, Buttigieg, who joined the Naval Reserve in 2009, was deployed to Afghanistan as a lieutenant for a seven-month tour.

He returned to the states in September 2014. Months later, he won a second term as mayor of South Bend.^[1]

Presidential Campaign

In January 2019, Buttigieg launched an exploratory committee for a presidential campaign.

On April 14th, 2019, Buttigieg officially announced his candidacy for United States presidency by joining the 2020 Democratic Primary. That day, he posted a video about his candidacy on Twitter. The video about his announcement received more than 16,000 retweets and 95,000 likes (shown below).

I just announced I'm running for president of the United States. Join in and donate if you can. It's going to be an amazing ride and I can't wait to be on it with you all the way to the White House: https://t.co/edZnUvfc2I pic.twitter.com/OTi0YsAG5R

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) April 14, 2019

Reputation

Pete Buttigieg is beloved by his supporters and center-leaning Democrats for his folksy and gentle-natured demeanor. Among the more centrist candidates in the Democratic primary, Mashable ^[2] compared the candidate, favorably to President Barack Obama. They wrote:

Like Obama, Buttigieg comes across as an intelligent, capable, and passionate leader. But at the same time, he gives the impression that he'd make an absolutely superb best friend. The perfect balance between personal and professional is often incredibly difficult to strike -- especially when a position as serious as president is on the horizon -- but it's one both Obama and Buttigieg seem to have nailed very early on.

Mashable^[5] also commented on the savviness of the campaign, particularly in regards to its ability to advertise online. They wrote of the candidate's online branding kit, "Buttigieg, his husband Chasten, and their dogs Truman and Buddy, already have beloved Twitter presences, but the millennial mayor and his team took things a step further this weekend by releasing an entire set of digital assets, social media guidelines, and detailed explanations behind each of his visual campaign aesthetics so that influencers and fans can easily show him support online."

Despite being virtually unknown at the beginning of the campaign, Buttigieg has since become a popular candidate in the polls. In April 2019, he polled third in an Iowa poll behind Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. ^[3]

Additionally, people have made many comments about the pronunciation of his name, leading to numerous videos about his last name (examples below).

Criticism

On April 12th, Buttigieg appeared on the daytime talk show Ellen. During the interview, Ellen asked the mayor about Vice President Mike Pence, the former governor of Indiana, Buttigieg's home state. Buttigieg, who is a homosexual, spoke about Pence, who has been criticized for homophobic policies as governor and said that Buttigieg has been critical of Pence's faith (shown below). Buttigieg said that he's "critical of religion being used as justification to harm people."

Tucker Carlson Eating Buttigieg

On April 16th, 2019, Tucker Carlson discussed Buttigieg's candidacy in relation Beto O'Rourke and the media's response to the candidate. Carlson said, "Chicken soup for my soul?’ Even by the naughty standards of the news media this is a new level of political commitment. They don’t just want to vote for this guy. They want to consume him like a hearty stew. Every last drop of Buttigieg. Yum. they’re all in" (shown below)

Following the post, reporter Jordan Uhl tweeted, "Is Tucker Carlson ok?" The post received more than 4,100 retweets and 22,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Is Tucker Carlson ok? pic.twitter.com/4hUsLAOC2Y

— jordan (@JordanUhl) April 17, 2019

Throughout the day, others made jokes about how Buttigieg being eaten by Tucker Carlson (examples below). That day, The Daily Dot reported on the response to the video.^[4]

Sexual Misconduct Smear Attempt

On April 29th, 2019, the Daily Beast^[6] reported that right-wing provocateurs and agitators Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who had previously attempted to smear Special Counsel Robert Mueller with a false sexual assault allegation, attempted a similar campaign on Buttigieg. The pair allegedly sought out young men who would claim that Buttigieg sexually assaulted them. However, within hours of one man coming forward with uncorroborated claims, the accuser retracted them.

According to the Daily Beast, an anonymous source disclosed audio evidence of Wohl stating their intentions to "knee cap" the Buttigieg campaign, which they see as a "terminal threat" to the Trump re-election campaign.

The campaign launched on Monday with a since-deleted Medium post by a man claiming to be Hunter Kelly. In the post, the writer alleged that Buttigieg had sexually assaulted him in February. That day, the piece was shared by Wohl's father, David, who said, "Uh oh: BREAKING: Media Darling Buttigieg Accused of Sexual Assault." This tweet, much like the Medium post, has since been deleted (shown below).

Hunter Kelly later denied the allegations and confirmed that Wohl and Burkman were attempting to recruit individuals who would claim that Buttigieg had sexually assaulted them. Later that day, Kelly posted on Facebook,^[7] "I WAS NOT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED. It's important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone." The post received more than 200 reactions and 140 shares (shown below).

Burkman denied that they had attempted to coerce Kelly to lie, saying that Kelly came to him and Wohl. He said, "While we’re disappointed by his reaction today, I can’t imagine the stress he’s currently under. This is a difficult subject for anyone to face and unfortunately, as an attorney, there’s only so much I can do."

Buttigieg, however, did not seem phased by the allegations. He told the Daily Beast, "It's not going to throw us. Politics can be ugly sometimes but you have to face that when you're in presidential politics."

Personal Life

Buttigieg married his boyfriend of three years Chasten in 2018. If elected president, Buttigieg would be the United States' first openly gay president.

Search Interest

External References