Pete Buttigieg, better known as Mayor Pete - the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana - has dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee race.
“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 country together,” Mr Buttigieg said.
He dropped out of the race after performing poorly in the South Carolina primary. As one of the many centrist/moderate candidates, pundits have argued that candidates like Mr Buttigieg and splitting the Democratic vote and strengthening progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders.
In his announcement Mr Buttigieg called for Democrats to unite in their fight to beat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
The 38-year-old has often been criticised due to his age and lack-of-experience, having never held nation-wide office. Despite this, he generated much attention around his campaign, even winning the Iowa caucuses narrowly from Mr Sanders, who is now the national frontrunner.
Mr Buttigieg failed to make progress in Nevada and South Carolina, the first two states with influential minority voting blocs.
Speaking to supporters in South Bend on Sunday night, Mr Buttigieg said: “Today is a moment of truth ... the truth is that the path has narrowed to a close for our candidacy if not for our cause.” he said.
Former vice-president to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, won the South Carolina primary on Saturday by a landslide margin. The next big date on the Democratic nominee campaign race is Super Tuesday, taking place on 3rd March. Tomorrow, 14 states, American Samoa and Democrats who lice ocerseas will vote.
As a centrist, Mr Biden is thought to gain many former Buttigieg-voters, seeking to emphasise his position as the moderate choice.
