January 30, 2025

LITTLE MAN BIG MAD: Buttigieg Furious After Trump Calls Him a ‘Disaster’ With a ‘Line of Bull’ During Crash Press Conference.

“On behalf of the First Lady, myself, and 340 million Americans, our hearts are shattered alongside yours. And our prayers are with you now and in the days to come.”

It wasn’t long, however, before the president pointed out the disastrous previous leadership at the Department of Transportation.

Trump thoroughly dismantled Buttigieg’s tenure at the DOT on a national stage without regard for anybody’s personal feelings. The former Transportation Secretary is a legitimate target of criticism, especially when you consider the numerous near-miss aviation disasters that took place during his time in that role.

“The FAA, which is overseen by Secretary Pete Buttigieg – That guy’s a real winner,” President Trump said.

“Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation?” he asked. “He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground. And he’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bulls**t.”

“He’s run it right into the ground with his diversity.”

He then opted to forgo the moral high ground by blaming Trump in return for the air disaster.

“President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe,” he said. “Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”

It’s rich to see the man who was Transportation Secretary for four years suggest that the president who has been in office for just nine days is more responsible for chaos at the FAA than he is. Not to mention, he then criticized the fact that one of Trump’s first moves was to root out the incompetence left behind by Buttigieg’s hiring practices.

He’s cleaning up your mess, fella.

Trump clearly doesn’t understand what Wired magazine dubbed in 2023 — apparently non-ironically — Buttigieg’s “Cathedral Mind” and his self-described vision of his tenure as transportation secretary:

In an exit interview with Politico, Buttigieg blames this not on administrative failures, bureaucratic backlog, or voters’ prioritizing other things but rather on that pesky time-space continuum. “The nature of good policy and being politically rewarded for good policy is it doesn’t tend to happen — in the same way that an artist is not necessarily appreciated in their lifetime, a policy is rarely appreciated in the same political cycle where it happens, especially a good one.” Buttigieg implies Biden shares his frustration — but will also share in his ultimate vindication.

Buttigieg’s remarks are just one sign that he intends to stick around politics for as much of what comes next politically as he can manage. Aside from Politico, he is making the rounds elsewhere. He gives every indication that he intends to continue seeking relevance with the same shamelessness by which he vaulted himself from mayor of Indiana’s fourth-largest city to a presidential contender and then secretary of transportation.

Yesterday’s plane crash may have ended his future prospects, however. Prior to it, Buttigieg was weighing a U.S. Senate or gubernatorial run from Michigan: Surprise: Pete Buttigieg Might Prefer Senate Grandstanding to Being Michigan Governor.

Related:

UPDATE: Buttigieg ditches pronouns:

Posted at 8:14 pm by Ed Driscoll