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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has removed his pronouns from his biography on X, formerly Twitter, according to a prominent account on the social media platform.
Screenshots from the Libs of TikTok account, which is run by conservative activist Chaya Raichik and has over 4 million followers, appear to show that Buttigieg deleted his "he/him" pronouns from the account.
Newsweek has contacted Buttigieg for comment via Facebook and Instagram direct messages.
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Why It Matters
Following Donald Trump's second presidential election victory in November 2024, a number of organizations and prominent figures have rolled back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives dubbed "woke" by critics.
Almost immediately after his inauguration on January 20, Trump issued an executive order saying it is "the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female." Trump then signed a second executive order banning transgender personnel from the military, although this is already facing a legal challenge.
Some commentators have argued that Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election at least in part because she leaned too heavily towards progressive social campaigns, such as those around transgender rights.
What To Know
Late on Thursday, Libs of TikTok shared two screenshots of Buttigieg's X account biography, apparently before and after it was updated when he stepped down as transportation secretary.
The first biography read: "Personal account. For official updates, follow @SecretaryPete. Husband, father, veteran, writer, South Bend's former Mayor Pete. (he/him)."
However, the pronouns were gone from his second and current biography, which reads: "Husband, dad, veteran, writer, and proud Midwesterner. 19th US Secretary of Transportation and former Mayor of South Bend."
In addition to the screenshots, Libs of TikTok wrote: "JUST IN: Pete Buttigieg removed his pronouns from his bio."
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In the 2010s and early 2020s, some people, predominantly progressives, began including their pronouns in their biographical information and email signatures as a sign of support for the transgender community.
On Thursday, Buttigieg hit out at Trump on X after the president suggested Wednesday's deadly Washington, D.C., plane crash, involving an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter, might have been the fault of DEI initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Reacting to the remarks, Buttigieg said: "Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch."
What People Are Saying
Responding to the Libs of TikTok post on X, conservative activist Paul Szypula, who has 280,000 followers on the platform, posted: "Haha Pete Buttigieg is such a phony. He can't even stick by his own gender ideology."
Conservative-leaning political commentator Richard Hanania wrote: "Mayor Pete was one of the last holdouts. Nobody will ever ask him why he felt the need to say he was he/him for a few years but not now.
"What changed in society to require pronouns in 2024 but not 2025? He likes going on conservative media, they should ask him."
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether the current pushback against DEI and other progressive initiatives will be a long-term recalibration or a temporary blip caused by Trump's second election victory.
Buttigieg has previously been discussed as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic Party presidential nomination.
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