Pete Buttigieg makes cringey spy balloon joke, stays silent on Ohio train derailment

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg copped bipartisan heat Monday when he failed to address the catastrophic Ohio train derailment which released toxic chemicals into the air this month — but joked about Chinese spy balloons and moaned about a lack of diversity in the construction industry.

“It couldn’t be a more exciting time for transportation,” Buttigieg, 41, said in a remarks at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, where he discussed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Biden in 2021.

“It’s had its challenges. I mean, if you look at what the American transportation systems have faced in the last two or three years partly because of the pandemic, we’ve faced issues from container shipping to airline cancellations … Now we got balloons,” the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, awkwardly joked.

But the one-time presidential candidate’s cringey attempt at humor went down like a lead balloon.

Buttigieg joked, “Now we got balloons,” as he discussed the challenges the US has faced in terms of transportation.AP

“Nobody thinks this is funny,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) raged in a tweet Monday, sharing a video of the Cabinet member’s quip. 

Hawley has called for an investigation into what he calls the Biden administration’s “baffling response” to a Chinese spy balloon that floated over the US two weeks ago. 

“He jokes about balloons while ignoring East Palestine, OH. We deserve better than this,” former Ohio state senator and democrat Nina Turner also fumed in a tweet.

On Feb. 3, a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio — sending a plume of toxic smoke into the air, making animals sick and prompting residents to evacuate.

Buttigieg’s joke about “balloons” ruffled Republican and Democratic feathers on Monday.REUTERS

“The nation’s chief rail regulator isn’t saying anything — as his agency is considering an initiative to weaken brake safety rules,” far-left political operative David Sirota, a former senior adviser and speechwriter for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign, complained on Twitter, linking to an article about Buttigieg’s silence on the East Palestine disaster during his comments Monday. 

Buttigieg also ruffled feathers by choosing to spend the time claiming construction sites are not employing enough local workers in minority communities, suggesting jobs where primarily being outsourced to white workers. 

“We have heard way too many stories from generations past of infrastructure where you got a neighborhood, often a neighborhood of color, that finally sees the project come to them, but everyone in the hard hats on that project, doing the good paying jobs, don’t look like they came from anywhere near the neighborhood,” he said. 

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) swiftly slammed the ex-Indiana mayor for focusing on race “as toxic chemicals are spewing out in East Palestine.” 

“Pete Buttigieg has finally emerged today. Not a single comment about the train crash in Ohio. Instead, he bemoaned the whiteness of the construction industry. It’s a miracle that this country is able to function at all under this regime,” Boebert seethed in a tweet.

The fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last week has sparked concerns that toxic fumes may endanger residents. AP

Tom Fitton, the president of the conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch, also argued Monday that Buttigieg’s push for more racial diversity in the construction industry is unconstitutional. 

“Breaking: [Buttigieg], in violation of US Constitution-state/federal law pushes for race quotas in hiring,” Fitton said in a tweet.