Pardon our French —but where the hell is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on the Ohio train derailment disaster? Deadly toxic fumes are pouring into the air, killing animals and creating dangerous living conditions for the locals and Mayor Pete is…is…doing what, exactly?
Oh, right, He’s popping into conferences making cringy jokes.
Both sides of the aisle are frustrated with Pistol Pete’s (lack of) response.
From The New York Post:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg copped bipartisan heat Monday when he failed to address the catastrophic Ohio train derailment which released toxic chemicals into the air this month — but joked about Chinese spy balloons and moaned about a lack of diversity in the construction industry.
“It couldn’t be a more exciting time for transportation,” Buttigieg, 41, said in remarks at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, where he discussed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Biden in 2021.
“It’s had its challenges. I mean, if you look at what the American transportation systems have faced in the last two or three years partly because of the pandemic, we’ve faced issues from container shipping to airline cancellations … Now we got balloons,” the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, awkwardly joked.
But the one-time presidential candidate’s cringy attempt at humor went down like a lead balloon.
“Nobody thinks this is funny,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) raged in a tweet Monday, sharing a video of the Cabinet member’s quip.
Nobody thinks this is funny https://t.co/hn7R5xpa5M
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) February 13, 2023
“He jokes about balloons while ignoring East Palestine, OH. We deserve better than this,” former Ohio state senator and democrat Nina Turner also fumed in a tweet.
He jokes about balloons while ignoring East Palestine, OH.
We deserve better than this. pic.twitter.com/tAcNniSPMQ
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) February 13, 2023
“The nation’s chief rail regulator isn’t saying anything — as his agency is considering an initiative to weaken brake safety rules,” far-left political operative David Sirota, a former senior adviser and speechwriter for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, complained on Twitter, linking to an article about Buttigieg’s silence on the East Palestine disaster during his comments Monday.
The nation’s chief rail regulator isn’t saying anything — as his agency is considering an initiative to weaken brake safety rules. https://t.co/wh6Ii5fYw5
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) February 13, 2023
More over at The New York Post:
Pete Buttigieg makes cringey spy balloon joke, stays silent on Ohio train derailment https://t.co/ph0sbrG1xK pic.twitter.com/7tnYqyISzj
— New York Post (@nypost) February 13, 2023