Could the next President of the United States of America be a half-Maltese man? It’s certainly a long shot, but Pete Buttigieg has officially announced today that he will seek to become the Democratic Party’s representative in next year’s election.

And he has instantly won the endorsement of none other than the Prime Minister of his father’s country of origin.

“Best of luck to Pete Buttigieg on the bold move for US President,” Muscat tweeted. “Proud to call you a friend and that you value your Maltese heritage.”

Buttigieg, 37, is the son of Joseph Buttigieg, a Maltese national who moved to the United States to read for a PhD and eventually landed a job as a professor of English at a university in Indiana.

He was first elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana in 2011, making him the youngest mayor of a US city with at least 100,000 residents. He was re-elected to the post in 2014 with a whopping 80% of the vote.

Buttigieg is openly gay, meaning he will become the first openly gay choice of a major political party if he wins the Democratic Party’s nomination.

“The corruption, the lying, the fighting, the crisis, it has got to end,” Buttigieg said in a video announcing his candidature. “The reality is there is no going back, and there is no such thing as again in the real world. We can’t look for greatness in the past.”

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]