Who's Pete Buttigieg? What Does He Stand for?
By Riaz Haq
CA
Thirty-eight-year-old Mayor Pete Buttigieg of a small Indiana town of South Bend has so far been the biggest surprise with his surge in Democratic Party primaries for the presidential nomination this year. His strong showing among the top two candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire has been as much of a shock to the pundits as the poor performance of former Vice President Joe Biden who is also seeking the nomination. Mayor Pete is now beginning to get more scrutiny by media pundits and commentators.
Mayor Pete's Last Name
Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, is Maltese-American. His last name literally means "father of chicken". His parents came from Malta, a small Mediterranean island close to Sicily and North Africa. His last name is in Maltese, a language strongly influenced by Arabic. It is attributed to settlers from Sicily where Siculo-Arabic was spoken after the island was conquered by the Fatimids from Egypt in the 9th century AD.
Buttigieg's Sexual Orientation
Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay leading candidate for the office of the President of the United States (POTUS). He has regularly introduced Chasten Glezman as his husband at his election rallies. Recent surveys show that two-thirds of Americans support gay marriage, an increase of more than 20 points since the turn of the century.
Mayor Pete's Corporate Background
Pete Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities. As a 20 year-old, he served as President of the Student Advisory Council at Harvard University’s esteemed Institute of Politics. He wrote twice-a-month columns in the Harvard Crimson.
After graduating, Pete Buttigieg worked for the elite management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. His work at McKinsey has been criticized by his opponents for helping corporate America move jobs overseas. Some have accused him of being corporations' favorite. He has received large contributions from the biggest US corporations.
Mayor Pete is Moderate
As a millennial, Mayor Pete is the youngest candidate in a field dominated by senior citizens. He is openly gay, millennial and a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He is close to the center of the Democratic Party when compared with his main rivals in the primary.
He opposes Medicare For All but supports universal health coverage. He favors granting citizenship to Dreamers, the people who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally when they were children.
Mayor Pete is for increasing minimum wage to $15 an hour. He wants to reverse 2017 corporate tax cuts and increase earned income tax credit (EITC).
Buttigieg's Israel Policy
Unlike Bernie Sanders who wants to cut US aid to Israel, Buttigieg has said he would consider using it to “leverage” Israel to change its policies toward the Palestinians.
“I’m not going to commit now to all of the ways that leverage can and should be used, but I will say that our policy goal will be to do what we do when a friend is moving in a way that you’re worried about, which is to put your arm around them and guide them somewhere better,” he said.
Summary:Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay presidential candidate in US history. He is also the youngest person to seek the nomination. His Maltese name Buttigieg is of Arabic origin. It means father of chicken. He is a small town mayor from South Bend, Indiana, who has so far been the biggest surprise with his surge in Democratic Party primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. He is considered a moderate in the Democratic field. Even though he wants to reverse 2017 corporate tax cuts but some accuse him of being a corporate candidate and the recipient of large donations from the biggest US corporations. He supports increasing federal minimum wage to $15 an hour and favors universal health coverage. He also supports granting US citizenship to Dreamers, the people who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally when they were children.
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