After a less-than-stellar finish in the South Carolina primary, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor from South Bend, Indiana, officially announced on Sunday that he would be suspending his campaign.
“The truth is the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy if not for our cause,” Buttigieg, 38, told supporters during an event in South Bend, Indiana. “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.”
Buttigieg’s announcement came on the heels of his loss to Democratic rivals Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden and others in the South Carolina primary heading into Super Tuesday. While he has not officially endorsed another candidate for president, he is rumored to be possibly supporting former Vice President Joe Biden.
Buttigieg graciously granted The Source an exclusive interview in which he shared his vision for a more united America as well as a shared hope for the future.
“Politics at its worst is ugly,” he said during his suspension speech in South Bend. “But at its best, politics can lift us up. It is not just policymaking. It is moral. It is soul craft. That’s why we’re in this.”
As the first openly gay presidential candidate, he said: “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.”
There is no word as to what will happen to the advance votes that have been cast for Buttigieg in the 14 states that will be participating in “Super Tuesday” on March 3.
Presidential hopeful Tom Steyer also dropped out of the race over the weekend as well.
