On Thursday, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg finally traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, after a major train derailment released toxic chemicals into the air and water supply.
Buttigieg’s visit comes just one day after former President Donald Trump visited the disaster site, and 20 days after the disaster itself took place.
After arriving in East Palestine, the SOT was confronted by reporters asking why it took him so long to visit the city and speak to its people.
Savanah Hernandez, a reporter for Turning Point USA, asked Buttigieg why it took him three weeks to come to East Palestine. She said, “We’re saying it’s too little too late because it took you three weeks to get here, and then you used the excuse that there’s 1,000 train derailments in the USA every single year – is that okay to you as the Department of Transportation secretary?”
“I can’t tell what your question is, but I’m on my way to answer a lot of questions for reporters right now,” replied Buttigieg, trying to brush off Hernandez since he only likes to answer questions he has pre-prepared answers for.
“The question is, do you think that you’ve done a good job as the Secretary of the Department of Transportation?” asked Hernandez.
Buttigieg, effectively ignoring the question, replied that he is “proud of what FRA [Federal Railroad Association] and PHMSA [Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration] have done here from day one.” He added that he is proud of the “community he saw” in East Palestine.
I confronted Pete Buttigieg once again on being 3 weeks later after he tried to dance around questions on slow federal response.
I then asked if he thinks 1,000 train derailments per year was okay with him, since that was his initial response to the East Palestine derailment pic.twitter.com/x0W4dMyXSq
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) February 23, 2023
Hernandez also tried speaking to Buttigieg’s Press Secretary for the Department of Transportation, however, she bizarrely refused to be interviewed on camera.
The press secretary then told Hernandez that she was being “aggressive” by trying to record her. Since when is it ‘aggressive’ for reporters to ask questions of public officials on camera?
Pete Buttigieg is asked by @sav_says_ why it took him 3 weeks to come to East Palestine
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 23, 2023
Another TPUSA reporter, Kalen D’Almeida, asked Buttigieg if he will apologize or resign over his response to East Palestine.
“The American public doesn’t seem to be very confident with your ability to do your job, will you be resigning any time soon?” asked D’Almeida.
Buttgeig replied, “I’m not here for politics.” However, the only reason he traveled to East Palestine was because of the political pressure to do so. If it were up to him, he would have continued to ignore the situation like he was doing in the first place.
Pete Buttigieg is asked by @fromkalen if he will apologize or resign over his response to East Palestine
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 23, 2023
