Secretary of Transportation and former mayor of a small Indiana community, Pete Buttigieg, faces massive calls to step down from his position. Critics cite his abject failure as the de facto leader of America’s transportation industry in the wake of the horrific, dangerous derailment of a train carrying hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio.
“Dear Pete Buttigieg, Don’t even waste your time running for President some day,” wrote the popular Twitter account DC Draino. “Your disgraceful silence and lack of leadership on what is happening to the good people of Ohio is now your legacy as Transportation Secretary. Resign.”
Dear Pete Buttigieg
Don’t even waste your time running for President some day
Your disgraceful silence and lack of leadership on what is happening to the good people of Ohio is now your legacy as Transportation Secretary
Resign
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) February 14, 2023
“Trains were supposed to be his thing,” one political pundit wrote on Twitter, mocking the Secretary’s self-described love of the transportation industry expressed during his nomination.
“Will you resign already?” another Twitter user asked.
“Pete Buttigieg, President-elect Biden’s pick for transportation secretary, said he has ‘a personal love of transportation,’ recounting train trips on Amtrak while in college, and said he proposed to his now-husband, Chasten, in an airport terminal,” Fox News reminded readers of an NPR tweet in December of 2020.
Twitter users were supported by Republican congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona, who also said that Buttigief needed to step down after exposing himself as nothing more than a worthless identity politics hire.
10 days too late. Resign. https://t.co/bBph3ykZ50
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 14, 2023
Buttigieg was nowhere to be seen for over a week since the disaster in Ohio had unfolded. In that time, he was silent on the issue and when he did make public appearances, he spoke about how too many white people worked construction jobs.
“We have heard way too many stories from generations past of infrastructure where you got a neighborhood, often a neighborhood of color, that finally sees the project come to them, but everyone in the hard hats on that project, doing the good paying jobs, don’t look like they came from anywhere near the neighborhood,” Buttigieg said in a widely circulated video.
After that tone-deaf speech, Twitter was flooded with angry sentiments toward the first openly gay cabinet member.
“People are being poisoned because of a toxic train derailment in Ohio and the Secretary of transportation has absolutely nothing to say about it!” one Twitter user stated.
“Not only is this an insane priority at a time like this, it also shows that this dumbass knows absolutely nothing about the construction business. Half of the industry is comprised of racial minorities. Hispanics in particular. This is a widely known fact,” said another, conservative commentator Matt Walsh.
“’Diversity’ is the death of everything. That’s what it is. It’s a virus that will slowly walk through every single thing and kill it. Reject ‘inclusion’. Embrace exclusion,” conservative radio talk show host Jesse Kelly said.
Buttigieg has finally acknowledged a disaster has developed in Ohio and threatens the safety of tens of millions of Americans. He wrote a lengthy Twitter thread using the most banal government language possible. Translation: He won’t do anything.
I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own. It’s important that families have access to useful & accurate information:
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 14, 2023
“I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own. It’s important that families have access to useful & accurate information,” the thread began.
Buttigieg continued: “USDOT has been supporting the investigation led by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Our Federal Rail Administration and Pipelines and Hazardous Materials teams were onsite within hours of the initial incident and continue to be actively engaged.”
“We will look to these investigation results & based on them, use all relevant authorities to ensure accountability and continue to support safety.”
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