Bearded Buttigieg trended on Twitter late Thursday after (altered) photos of Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg with a beard went viral on social media. The images were created by director Jim Fall (Trick), who altered photographs of Mayor Pete with FaceApp, adding fur to his clean-shaven face.
The photos were brought to the internet's attention by Kenneth Walsh, who captioned them “Mayor Woof for President.”
There are, however, bearded Buttigieg photos out there that are the real thing, including this one from his crew days at Oxford, when the candidate was 23.
Fall told The Advocate that he made the images after being “impressed with [Buttigieg's] ability to stay cool and smart” after the Las Vegas debate: “It's amazing to me that we are living in a time where an out gay married man is a serious contender for the presidency. I'm still on the fence about who I'll vote for ultimately, but both Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren have stayed at the top of my list. Elizabeth doesn't look so good in a beard or mustache, so I didn't post those. It's amazing to me that we are living in a time where an out gay married man is a serious contender for the presidency. No matter what you feel about his specific politics, the LGBTQ community should be celebrating. I see so many gay men on social media knocking him down, and it's disheartening.”
Meanwhile, the bearded Buttigieg photos inspired others to get creative:
Bearded Pete motivates me 😉 #beardedbuttigieg pic.twitter.com/lunh1uYCNW
— 🐝🖖📄 🐁SlowYourTrolls 🐀🍞🍷🌅 (@SlowYourTrolls) February 21, 2020
