Pete Buttigieg has ended his Presidential campaign
The Democrat became the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major party
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Pete Buttigieg has ended his Presidential campaign for the White House.
The former Mayor of Indiana became the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major party when he announced he was running for the Democrat nomination.
But his campaign lost momentum over the last few weeks and now, Buttigieg has decided to drop out of the campaign trial ahead of a key day in the Democratic race to take on Trump, the BBC reported.
Following his departure, six Democrats are still in the running including Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Kobluchar and Tulsi Gabbard.
Speaking in his hometown of South Bend, Buttigieg told his supporters: “And so we must recognise 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 our nation together.
“So tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency.”
Biden praised Buttigieg’s campaigning effort in a tweet and said: “@petebuttigieg ran a historic, trail-blazing campaign based on courage, compassion, and honesty.
“We will be a better country for his continued service. This is just the beginning of his time on the national stage.”
.@PeteButtigieg ran a historic, trail-blazing campaign based on courage, compassion, and honesty. We will be a better country for his continued service. This is just the beginning of his time on the national stage.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 2, 2020
Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten, also addressed crowds of supporters in South Bend, and said: “About a year and a half ago, my husband came home from work and told me – well he asked me, ‘What do you think about running for president?’ And I laughed! Not at him, but at life.
“Life gave me some interesting experiences, on my way to find Pete. After falling in love with Pete, Pete got me to believe in myself… and I told Pete to run [for office] because I knew there were other kids sitting out there in this country who needed to believe in themselves, too.”