Presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, mayor made a campaign stop Friday to the tip of Cape Cod.

PROVINCETOWN — For a few hours on Friday afternoon, Provincetown became Pete-Town.

Presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg made a campaign stop in the Cape’s tip, with more than 400 people packing the town hall auditorium to hear what he had to say on an array of topics, including LGBTQ rights, climate change and the current state of politics.

“What a reception,” Buttigieg said to the crowd as he strolled onto the stage. “It really does feel like Pete-Town.”

He kicked off the event by applauding Provincetown’s famously accepting spirit and said that America could model itself after the town.

“We have an opportunity to make America a place that celebrates inclusion, celebrates belonging,” he said.

The room was full of supporters, many wearing Pete-Town shirts and waving signs handed out by campaign staffers.

Deb Elam, a year-round Provincetown resident, was impressed by Buttigieg’s credentials.

“He’s the most intelligent candidate,” she said.

For her, Buttigieg is the opposite of the sitting President Donald Trump.

“I like the fact that he doesn’t get rattled by tweets,” she said. “I think that Pete could be Trump’s kryptonite.”

During his speech, Buttigieg highlighted his contrast with Trump and the Republican party.

“We need something completely different,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say that it doesn’t get much more opposite of this president than a laid-back, intellectual gay midwestern mayor.”

The candidate talked to the crowd for about 15 minutes before opening up to questions written down by attendees.

The first question was from Camp Lightbulb, a sleep-away camp in Provincetown for youth across the LGBTQ spectrum. The campers asked Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential candidate, what he would say to LGBTQ and minority youth.

The message that group normally hears is that they are the future, he said. Mayor Pete, as his supporters call him, had a slightly different one for the campers in the crowd.

“My message to you is that you’re the present,” he said. “There has never been more urgency for young people, especially minority and LGBTQ youth and minority LGBTQ youth and the list goes on, to raise your voices — because you have something that no one else can do, and it’s the ability to bring some of these issues to light.”

Buttigieg said he would do everything in his power as a candidate and a president to empower those groups.

Buttigieg being the firstly openly gay candidate to run for president meant a lot to Brian Romanowski and Max Gallo, who were on vacation and sitting at the back of the auditorium Friday.

- See a photo gallery from Mayor Pete Buttigieg's appearance in Provincetown

“I think visibility matters and representation matters,” Gallo said before Buttigieg took the stage. “It’s huge.”

Buttigieg, who has been open about his Christian faith, was also asked by a gay evangelist about how people can break down the notion that gay people can’t be religious.

“People need to hear from people like you who have that crossover experience,” he said to the person who asked the question. “I’m trying to give a voice to that experience, too.”

Buttigieg also echoed a sentiment he has previously voiced to Vice President Mike Pence.

“If you’ve got a problem with how I was made, you’ve got a problem with my maker,” he said at the rally. “Take it up with him.”

While national politics was center stage for most of the rally, with Buttigieg touching on voting rights for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, student debt and healthcare, Provincetown was never far out of mind. Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, went to Liz’s Cafe on Bradford Street and walked along Commercial Street earlier in the day. He was also scheduled to hold a private fundraiser later on in the evening. On Saturday, Buttigieg is due to pop over to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

One person asked Buttigieg how to make America less divided and more accepting like Provincetown.

“I feel like Provincetown models that sense of what America could be like,” Buttigieg said. “I can’t tell you how welcoming everybody is.”

The Provincetown question set him up to talk about his focus on national service. He advocated for people having more shared bonding experiences without having to go to war like he did during his time in the Navy.

“I believe by the time we celebrate our country’s 250th (anniversary) in 2026, we could have a million opportunities for people graduating out of high school to do national service for a full year.”

He asked the crowd to help spread the message of hope he put out to the audience to others to help him get to the White House.

“If you were moved by the message today, can I look to you to build this campaign?” he asked.

The ensuing thunderous applause from hundreds of Mayor Pete fans sent a clear signal that he could.

— Follow Ethan Genter on Twitter: @EthanGenterCCT.