Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg caused a stir when he refused a reporter’s questions on the crisis in East Palestine. He then asked to take a photograph of the journalist.
Jennie Taer, a reporter from the Daily Caller News Foundation, approached Buttigieg as he was walking outside in Washington, D.C. She identified herself to be a journalist and asked him what he thought to the people of Ohio, East Palestine, and others who were suffering in the wake of the train accident that released dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere.
Buttigieg stated, “Well, I’d refer to you to approximately a dozen interviews that I’ve given today. If you’d like a conversation, you should contact our press office.”
Buttigieg said to Taer that he wouldn’t have a conversation “just walking down the road,” but the reporter didn’t stop trying.
“You don’t have a message to them?” She asked.
Buttigieg retorted, “I do. And I shared with you many times today. I refer to those comments.”
Taer replied, “Mind sharing with us?”
Buttigieg declined to answer the question, saying that he was busy with personal matters.
He said, “Right now I’m taking some private time and I’m walking down street.”
Taer asked him if he was planning to visit the Ohio city. This prompted Buttigieg reach for his phone. The reporter asked him if he could take a photo with his cellphone.
“Can you take a picture of me?” Buttigieg asked.
Before the video cuts off, you can hear the reporter giving permission.
Fox News Digital asked Buttigieg several questions, including why he wanted the reporter to take his photo. Buttigieg’s Press Office did not immediately reply.
Taer uploaded video of the incident and it quickly became viral, with over 1.6million views in a matter of hours.
“I asked Secretary Buttigieg questions about the crisis in East Palestine. He didn’t like it so he took a picture of me. She captioned the video with “I’m just doing what I have to do, sir.”
Following the Ohio train derailment, Pete Buttigieg is urged to resign
Steve Krakauer, a media critic, was one of those who found Buttigieg’s response strange.
“This is completely bizarre and shows the disdain for journalists by the current administration.” Imagine Elaine Chao doing this during Trump’s administration,” Krakauer tweeted. Let’s see how corporate press colleagues can speak up for a reporter who is doing her job.
Harris Faulkner, Fox News’ Transportation Secretary, responded that he needed a photo of a member from our FREE press to answer his question. Is he trying be funny…or is there something else? Targeting? Public officials are permitted to speak with journalists.”
Officials attempted to stop the freight train of Norfolk Southern Railroad from colliding on February 3. However, officials did not manage to control the toxic substances in the cars until three days later.
Black smoke, toxins such as vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, and phosgene, contaminated the community after the fire. Buttigieg and the Biden administration have been widely criticised for their handlings of toxic spillage.
“With Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and others, preoccupied in Europe, celebrating an unending war, who is running the show at home?” It’s not Pete Buttigieg. He is America’s incompetent transport secretary and has been completely M.I.A. He has been utterly M.I.A. for just two years.
“The Biden administration, and Pete Buttigieg in particular, has absolutely failed to address this Ohio environmental catastrophe,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) stated on “Sunday morning Futures.”
