SXSW 2021: Pete Buttigieg returns to event that sparked presidential run
Pete Buttigieg returned to South by Southwest on Thursday to deliver a keynote speech on his new role as U.S. transportation secretary and was immediately reminded of the last time he appeared at the festival.
It was 2019 — the most recent SXSW before last year's event was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic — when an audience getting revved up for the upcoming U.S. presidential election got their first glimpse of the little-known Midwest wunderkind.
Nearing the end of his second term as mayor of South Bend, Ind., Buttigieg used an appearance on a CNN town hall to emerge as a viable contender for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump. At just 37, he carved out a spot in the crowded field as an alternative to long-timers Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden.
A month later and riding the momentum of his SXSW star turn, Buttigieg launched his presidential campaign. The rest of the country was introduced to "Mayor Pete," the openly gay, Harvard-educated Rhodes Scholar who served seven months in Afghanistan as a lieutenant with the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/03/18/austin-sxsw-pete-buttigieg-returns-keynote-address/4747654001/