America’s baby mayor is face of anti-abortion movement
WHITEHALL, UNITED STATES: "The mayor's breakfast is ready," Mr Chad McMillan sings out from the living room of his Texas ranch.
Charlie McMillan is no ordinary city official - he is only seven months old and a new face of the anti-abortion movement in the US.
The chubby baby became honorary mayor of his Texas community in October with a sweet slogan: Make America Kind Again.
A twist on US President Donald Trump's catchphrase of making the country great again, Charlie's "agenda" includes patriotism, adoption and "life" - referring to the issue of abortion that tends to polarise Americans.
The infant mayor's emergence comes amid mounting anxiety among abortion rights advocates who fear the 46-year-old Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision that effectively legalised abortion is under threat.
"One of his campaign platforms focuses on the brave and courageous choice that... his birth mother made for life," said Charlie's adoptive mother, Mrs Nancy Jane McMillan.
"She chose not to terminate the pregnancy but to carry him, and we were the incredibly blessed recipients of that brave and courageous choice."
Charlie's parents bought the honorary mayor title at an auction in October as part of a fund-raiser for firefighters in their community of Whitehall, about an hour north-west of Houston.
The appointment, which does not involve any duties, was "just something fun that we were doing", Mrs McMillan said. But then the 43-year-old real estate agent realised the influence that "Mayor Charlie" had on the people of Whitehall.
"Just a little bit of kindness goes such a long way, and in this time of political and cultural divisiveness, it is neat to see how a baby, a seven-month-old, with a campaign promise to make America kind again, can, we believe, impact change."
Mr Chad McMillan, 51, hopes his son can provide a much-needed respite from the political battles that have divided the US .
"We hope that Charlie, who isn't a Republican, who isn't a Democrat, who isn't an independent, who loves people, can allow everybody to take a breath," said the Baptist pastor and missionary, who voted for Mr Trump in 2016.
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