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Have you heard the rumor? Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old military vet, language enthusiast, and 2020 presidential candidate is…a millennial. (Chances are, if you’ve been following the race at all, this will come as no surprise due to the fact that people mention it constantly.) And while such a moniker might give you street cred at a Freaks and Geeks trivia night, turns out the teens are mostly unimpressed—especially after they saw the Buttigieg campaign’s campy dance set to Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes.”
Turns out, Pete’s people are dancing in Iowa:
Dancing during lunch breaks:
And dancing before the Polk County Steak Fry:
The routine—which consists of a few simple, repetitive movements aimed in different directions—is objectively silly, and people are unapologetically dragging it across all corners of the internet.
As @AdamFriedland on Twitter explains, “All over America, young people are learning a new dance. It’s not “the dab” or “the whip and then shanaenae”, it’s the mayor Pete Buttigeg dance, a hip modern routine set to panic! at the disco smash “high hopes””
Another predicts a dance-crazed future where Mayor Pete is president, writing: “me every morning during Emperor Pete’s 4th term in office to do the mandatory Morning Dance to our new national anthem”
MEL magazine reports that teens have been taking to TikTok to straight up roast Pete for a number of reasons, and many are using the dance to call out parts of Buttigieg’s platform they disagree with. (Some have even taken to calling him “Mayo Pete” because “the candidate is bland and overwhelmingly white,” people told MEL.)
But also, the roasting has no age limit! All were welcome to take a jab.
Obviously Pete’s supporters are just trying to jazz up the election and dance away with the candidacy, but cheerleading-esque moves just won’t suffice in this cut-throat race. Better luck—and choreography—next time.