The decision to throw in the towel was taken by the Buttigieg after the poor result in the primary in the state of South Carolina, where he was fourth, far below his biggest rival Joe Biden. In the smaller states of Iowa and New Hampshire, Buttigieg fared better, in the first state he even won. However, it soon became apparent that Buttigieg was experiencing difficulty to attract Afro and Latin American voters, which may explain his poor result in South Carolina. In that state, a majority of voters were African-American.
“Today is a moment of truth... the truth is the path has narrowed to a close, for our candidacy, if not for our cause. 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,” Buttigieg said in his speech, emphasizing how he is taking responsibility by leaving the race. In this sentiment, he is referring to how his absence will increase the likelihood of other candidates (such as Joe Biden) beating the far-left Bernie Sanders. “Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump (and to win the era for our values.”
Pete Buttigieg stood out as he was the first openly gay presidential candidate ever in the United States. The former mayor of the medium-sized town of South Bend in Indiana was one of the more "moderate" candidates for the Democratic nomination. Although Buttigieg openly expressed his orientation, he sometimes struggled to retain the LGBT + community on his side. For example, his partner cancelled a campaign meeting in a gay bar because of a stripper pole and he was regularly accused of being "not gay enough." By that, critics meant that he occasionally came across as "too conservative for an LGBT +" or "heteronormative."
The ‘’Queers against Pete’’ group emphasized how his positions within his campaign would have been harmful to the community. The group released the following statement regarding his withdrawal from the race: #QueersAgainstPete welcomes the news that former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is suspending his campaign. We formed our collective to call attention to the ways that Mayor Pete’s platform would fall particularly hard on economically vulnerable LGBTQ2IA+ communities: from his opposition to Medicare for All, decriminalizing border crossing, or cancelling student debt, to his ongoing failure to meaningfully address criticisms from Black Lives Matter South Bend.
Tomorrow, on the so-called "Super Tuesday", it will become clear who will be the biggest contenders for the Democratic nomination. Expectations are that it will be between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg is also trying to get a shot at nomination.
