On Sunday Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg refuted claims that he only visited East Palestine, Ohio after former President Donald Trump had announced that he would be visiting the town.
In response to these accusations during an interview with CNN Buttigieg claims that they were always intending on visiting and that the accusations are “Bulls***.”
The Biden administration and the Transportation Secretary have been heavily criticized for their response to the train derailment which occurred on Feb. 3. Following the derailment, there was a chemical spill in the land and water which led to both environmental and health concerns.
Buttigieg visited the area a few days after Trump’s visit to East Palestine. Many have pointed out that Buttigieg took too long after the derailment to arrange an official visit. Buttigieg did concede that he should have arranged a visit earlier on but that originally he had not considered the political implications of the derailment.
He also responded to those who have claimed that a lot of the responsibility ascribed to him is not within his hands. In response to that, Buttigieg claimed that “It’s really rich” to have certain of these rich people, whose main focus has always been tax cuts for the wealthy, pretending to care about “the forgotten middle of the country.”
