The most balanced Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg unleashed obscenity to hit back at a claim he only visited East Palestine, Ohio because former President Trump did.
“This is bullshit,” he said in an interview with CNN. ‘We were ready to go.’
The 41-year-old former mayor and presidential candidate was made the public scapegoat for the gaffe and faced the ire of Republicans who say he and the rest of the Biden administration were behind the ball in responding to the crisis.
Buttigieg was visiting the Ohio-Pennsylvania border town Feb. 23-20 after the Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals into the community. Fifty cars – 10 carrying hazardous materials – went off the track and chemicals seeped into the air and local rivers before officers conducted a controlled burn.
Trump had visited the day before, accusing the Biden administration of “indifference and betrayal” of the community.
Buttigieg admitted to CNN that he should have visited sooner. But he claimed his conservative critics feigned outrage at the city of 4,700, where the median household income is $46,000.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks to residents of East Palestine, Ohio but did not respond to reporters’ questions Thursday, February 23
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg finally visited eastern Palestine on Thursday, 20 days after the train derailment that left the Ohio community reeling and asking for answers from the Biden administration
“It’s really rich to see some of these people — the former president, these Fox hosts — who are literally lifelong members of the East Coast elite whose top economic policy priority has always been tax cuts for the wealthy, and who would you know yourself Don’t go out in a TJ Maxx if their lives depend on presenting themselves as genuinely caring about the forgotten heart of the country,” said the Secretary of Transportation.
“Do you think Tucker Carlson knows the difference between a TJ Maxx and a Kohl’s?”
Still, Buttigieg said it would have made little significant difference for him to visit the site sooner, since immediate response to accidents is the responsibility of other agencies. But he admitted it could have reassured the community that their voices were being heard to see one of the more familiar faces of the Biden administration on the ground.
Buttigieg called Trump’s visit “something maddening — to see someone who has done a lot to gut not only railroad safety regulations, but the EPA, which is the number one standing between this community and a complete loss of accountability.” stands for Norfolk Southern, and then show bottled water and give away campaign gifts?’
The Secretary of Transportation has accused Republicans of reversing railroad regulations.
“People who have consistently sided with the rail industry are suddenly acting like rail safety advocates,” Buttigieg said. “But it also creates an opportunity to call them to the table and say, ‘Okay, if we’re serious about this, let’s do this.'”
Federal investigators say the cause of the derailment was a mechanical problem with the rail car’s axle.
In 2015, DOT proposed a rule mandating a high-tech braking system — Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) brakes — on trains with more than 20 highly hazardous flammable train cars (HHFT).
But Congress ordered a cost-benefit analysis before the rule could be imposed, and the Trump administration overturned it in 2017. Buttigieg’s DOT has taken no steps to bring back the rule.
Clean-up efforts have continued for nearly three weeks since a train laden with hazardous waste derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3.
A man takes photos as a black cloud rises over eastern Palestine, Ohio, on February 6, 2023 as a result of a controlled detonation of part of the derailed Norfolk-Southern train.
The minister has since said he wants to bring back the ECP braking rule and speed up the phase-in of the requirement for more robust tank wagons to transport toxic chemicals. The new tank wagons are currently not needed until 2029.
Buttigieg said he also wants to increase the maximum amount DOT can fine railroads for safety violations.
Last week, Ohio Sens. JD Vance, R, and Sherrod Brown, D, introduced a rail safety law that requires at least two-person crews, includes stricter risk mitigation rules for trains carrying hazardous materials, and requires railroads to notify local emergency teams when carrying hazardous materials be driven through.