February 22, 2023

JIM GERAGHTY: Why the Ohio Train Derailment Is Becoming a Bigger Story.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg — who is rapidly accumulating a reputation for being in over his head and promising more than he can deliver — conceded a few days ago that he wishes he had addressed the public more quickly about the derailment and its consequences:

HUEY-BURNS: And I just have to ask, because it did take you a couple of days to respond publicly or several days to respond publicly to this particular incident. Do you wish you would have spoken out sooner?

BUTTIGIEG: Yes, I was focused on just making sure that our folks on the ground were all set, but could have spoken sooner about how strongly I felt about this incident. And that’s a lesson learned for me.

Buttigieg’s first public comments about the derailment, a series of tweets, came ten days after the disaster.

A Bloomberg headline declared that “Buttigieg Bashing Over Response to Ohio Derailment Turns Bipartisan,” but it’s worth noting that the Democrat they cite, David Sirota, is a former speechwriter for Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been a vociferous critic of Buttigieg since Day One. Then again, just because Sirota has a beef with Buttigieg going back to the 2020 presidential primary doesn’t mean that his criticisms aren’t valid. Sirota points out that Buttigieg’s public statements flipped pretty quickly from insisting he was “constrained” in regulating safety on railways to announcing a slew of new rules.

Buttigieg didn’t help himself last night: WTF Alert:  Pete Buttigieg Asks To Photograph Young Female Reporter Asking Him About Ohio Chemical Disaster.

In reaction to the bizarre behavior from the Secretary of Transportation, DCNF managing editor Mike Bastasch told me, “We are damn proud of Jennie Taer for asking a powerful government official tough questions. As for Secretary Buttigieg’s photo request, only he can tell us the real reason behind it, but if it was meant to intimidate us, it’s not going to work.”

What was Buttigieg thinking with this question?

Of all the insanely weird things to say to a reporter, asking to photograph them late at night on a street is right near the top of the list.

Is this how Biden administration officials treat the press? They get a question they don’t like and the strategy is to stonewall, deflect and then make the interaction as uncomfortable as possible? Am I understanding this correctly?

Why, yes you are. That’s been Biden’s pattern when talking with journalists for decades, when he’s not locking them into closets.

UPDATE: East Palestine Mayor: Biden ‘Doesn’t Care About Us.’

Posted at 8:30 pm by Ed Driscoll