What Languages Does Pete Buttigieg Speak?

Pete Buttigieg is a man of many words, but little do some people know that he's also a man that can translate those words to several different languages. The South Bend, Indiana native garnered a reputation early in life as being a "serious-minded kid" who aimed high, especially when it came to his academics, according to the Associated Press.

Patrick Bayliss, one of Buttigieg's friends from high school, put it this way, "It was always understood. It was just kind of matter of fact that he was special and brilliant." What's more, Buttigieg knew himself that he had presidential ambitions from a very early age. He told The New York Times' "The Daily" podcast, "I remember in history class — must have been a junior. It was during the impeachment process of President Clinton, all the scandal, everything that was going on, and I remember the teacher was just kind of riffing on this and he said, 'You know, would anybody here ever want to be president or want to run for office? I just — maybe involuntarily — my hand went up."

And while Buttigieg was unsuccessful in his first presidential campaign in 2020, there's still time for him in the future to potentially lead the country and show off his prowess. Should Buttigieg make it one day to the White House, he might be the first president in history to speak so many different foreign languages. And yes, it's more than you'd think!

According to The Sun, Pete Buttigieg speaks more languages than the average politician, or person for that matter. It's reported that he speaks seven languages, although it is unknown if he speaks each one fluently. But that doesn't seem to matter because he apparently does have a working understanding and knowledge of Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Maltese, Arabic, Dari, and French.

Buttigieg knows Maltese because his father was an immigrant from Malta. The BBC says that Buttigieg learned Norwegian so he could read Norwegian novelist Erlend Loe's work in its original form. In 2019, Buttigieg paid his respects to the French after the Notre-Dame cathedral fire in French to say the least and also responded to an Italian reporter in Italian that same year. This has prompted a lot of Buttigieg's fans to respond with, "Is there anything he can't do?!?!"

If that weren't enough, Buttigieg even recalled a story in which he was trying to help a family from Jordan in the middle of a protest. "Because I'm wearing a tie, the reporters from one of the local TV stations think that I'm his lawyer, and they start interviewing me. And one of them was from Telemundo, which was in Spanish, and they were asking me to try to ask him questions in Arabic, which I'm not that good at, and they were asking me in Spanish, and it was a real mess," he said, per CNN. But that's not Buttigieg's only superpower.

During a Democratic debate in July 2019, Pete Buttigieg showed off his Spanish, much to the surprise of his opponents around him. And if further proof is needed of Buttigieg's talents, there's even a video compilation of Buttigieg speaking all of his foreign languages in various interviews with the press. But then again, Buttgieg is not the first person in Washington, D.C. that is a known polyglot.

Former President Donald Trump's wife Melania Trump reportedly speaks five languages as well, including French and Italian, just like Buttigieg. During a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2017, the Pope seemingly teased Trump while asking his wife in Italian, "What are you feeding him, potica," which happens to be a popular dessert from Melania's native Slovenia, according to Time. We have a feeling that if Buttigieg were in the room, he would absolutely understand what the Pope was trying to say then, too. 

Buttigieg's superpower is not only being a polyglot, but also understanding what's said between the lines, too. With that said though, we'd sure love to see Buttigieg and Melania talk dessert in Italian with the former president in the room, too.