President Biden sang “Happy Birthday” to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during a White House event Friday, continuing a tradition that came from first lady Jill Biden.
“Pete turned 30 today,” Biden joked at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Conference, drawing laughter from the assembled mayors.
“My wife, her family has a tradition where we have to sing 'Happy Birthday' on everyone's birthday,” he added. “Now let's stand up and sing 'Happy Birthday.'”
Buttigieg, 42, is also the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He stood in the front row during the song and went up to the podium after the song to shake the president's hand and thank him for the special moment.
The serenade took place during the 92nd Congress, which first began during the Great Depression and concluded on Friday. Until today, According to the websiteit's a forum where “mayors engage directly with the president and Congress on the most pressing issues of the day.”
in Post to Xformerly known as Twitter, the conference organizers promoted the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by the president in 2021 and introduced Buttigieg to the current mayor's crowd using a handshake emoji.
“The bipartisan Infrastructure Act has so far funded nearly 40,000 projects across the country, a once-in-a-generation investment that will rebuild aging infrastructure and create hundreds of thousands of high-wage jobs. ,” they wrote.
Buttigieg campaigned unsuccessfully for the White House against Biden in 2020, and then endorsed him. He has indicated he still supports the president, but has not yet declared support for his re-election in 2024.
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