It’s not been a good couple of years for failed 2020 Democratic presidential contender Pete Buttigieg after he was appointed Transportation secretary by the man who vanquished him during the primaries.
Buttigieg has been beset with one problem after another — a supply chain crisis, horrific air travel delays and flight cancellations, shortages of diapers and baby formula, and now, a major train derailment and environmental disaster in Ohio.
Earlier this month, a Norfolk Southern train derailed, spilling tons of toxic chemicals into the ground and into the air as several cars caught on fire. A couple days later, more toxic fumes were released when the railroad conducted a ‘controlled’ burn of the remaining chemical cars after fearing they would explode.
But it took weeks — and, likely, a visit by former President Donald Trump to the town of East Palestine — for Buttigieg to visit the site of the Feb. 3 accident, and when he did, he blamed it on Joe Biden’s predecessor after he was asked the visit.
“One thing he can do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had nothing to do with it, even though it was in his administration. So, if he had nothing to do with it and they did it in his administration against his will, maybe he can come out and say that he supports us moving in a different direction,” Buttigieg said.
“We’re not afraid to own our policies when it comes to raising the bar on regulation. I’ve got to think that him indicating that this is something that everybody, no matter how much you disagree on politics and presidential campaigns, can get behind — higher fines, tougher regulations on safety, Congress untying our hands on breaking rules, all the other things that go with that — that would be a nice thing for him to do,” Buttigieg continued.
But National Traffic and Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy countered that narrative, telling a press conference this week that the rail company is largely to blame, not the former president or a rule regarding certain brakes that was loosened during his term.
“The wheel bearing failed on car number 23. So even with ECP brakes, the derailment would have occurred. Enough with the politics on this. Enough with the politics. I don’t understand why this has gotten so political,” she said. “This is a community that is suffering. This is not about politics. This is about addressing their needs, their concerns. That’s what this should be about. What I care about is caring for them. What I care about is figuring out how this happened.
“And what I care about and what the NTSB cares about is getting to what would prevent this from reoccurring,” she added. “This is about addressing their needs and their concerns. That’s what this should be about. So I don’t care about the politics. What I care about is figuring out how this happened.”
She noted further: “I can tell you this much: This was 100% preventable. We call things accidents. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable. Know that the NTSB has one goal, and that is safety and ensuring that this never happens again. There are often a lot of considerations in what goes into what is preventable. There is usually far more than one thing.”
