Pete Buttigieg— a history maker in the2020 presidential racein multiple ways — ended his campaign on Sunday night after a series of disappointing finishes curdled his early successes.
He made the announcement before a crowd of supporters in South Bend, Indiana, where the Harvard grad, Navy veteran and corporate analyst had been the mayor until January.
“I certainly still have that sense of how improbable this all is,” Buttigieg told PEOPLE in January. “Again, that’s part of the point. I think, in an odd way, that’s also part of why we’re succeeding.”
But that strength did not carry him far enough.
Buttigieg placed third at the Nevada caucus last week and then came in a more distant fourth in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, failing even to earn delegates in the latter vote.
“Today is a moment of truth,” he said Sunday. “After a year of going everywhere, meeting everyone, defying every expectation, seeking every vote, the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close — for our candidacy if not for our cause.”
He continued: “We have a responsibility to consider the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeatDonald Trumpand to win the era for our values. And so 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 our country together.”
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Elsewhere in his remarks, Buttigieg reflected on the importance of representation — what he meant to someone he might never even meet.
In a viral moment during the Iowa caucus, a woman was recorded sayingshe wanted to take her vote backafter learning Buttigieg was gay. Weeks later, conservative radio hostRush Limbaughsaid American voters weren’t ready to elect a gay man president.
“We sent 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 at his side,” Buttigieg said.
“After falling in love with Pete, Pete got me to believe in myself again,” Chasten, 30, told the crowd. “And I told Pete to run because I knew there were other kids sitting out there in this country who needed to believe in themselves, too.”
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Buttigieg’s exit narrows the 2020 field even further and, to many observers, leaves the race essentially to Vermont Sen.Bernie Sanders, who won in New Hampshire and Nevada (and came in second in Iowa), and former Vice PresidentJoe Biden, whose double-digit victory in South Carolina revived his campaign.
Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warrenand Minnesota Sen.Amy Klobucharalso continue to press their case, with somewhat strong showings in select states so far. But neither has won a primary or caucus.
BillionaireTom Steyeralso left the race this weekend, in the hours after South Carolina’s primary results came in showing him in third.
source: people.com
