Buttigieg torched for saying South Bend crises prepared him for Ohio derailment: ‘Couldn’t even fix potholes'

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Buttigieg torched for saying South Bend crises prepared him for Ohio derailment: ‘Couldn’t even fix potholes'

Twitter users slammed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for claiming his experience as the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana has prepared him for dealing with the catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Twitter users slammed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for claiming his experience as the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana prepared him for dealing with the catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Critics ridiculed the former mayor, claiming that fixing things like neighborhood "potholes" in South Bend is not the same as dealing with a massive train derailment resulting in a potential ecological disaster and desperate residents in the Ohio town. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., even urged the Biden administration official to "resign" in wake of the comments.

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U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks to ABC News about the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment crisis.  (Screenshot/ABC)

Buttigieg, who has been heavily criticized for not having done enough in responding to the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, assured residents during an interview on ABC’s "Good Morning America" that he would be showing up in the town at some point. 

During the Tuesday interview, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos mentioned criticism of Buttigieg and the Biden administration’s handling of the accident. He stated, "The administration’s come under some fire for its response. The mayor of East Palestine has said it took nearly two weeks for the White House to contact him. There were shouts of ‘Where’s Pete Buttigieg?’ at a town hall meeting last week."

Stephanopoulos asked, "What’s your response to that? When are you going to go to East Palestine?"

The Transportation Secretary flatly admitted, "Well I am planning to go, and uh, our folks were on the ground from the first hours. I do want to stress that the NTSB needs to be able to do its work independently. But when I go, the focus is going to be on action."

Buttigieg added, "Look, I was mayor of my hometown for eight years. We dealt with a lot of disasters, natural and human."

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Though his critics weren’t so assured of his expertise considering the gravity of the Ohio train derailment. 

Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel offered a scathing reply, tweeting, "Buttigieg couldn’t even fix potholes as mayor. He was a failed mayor and is a disaster as Transportation Secretary. He should resign."

Sen. Hawley simply replied to the clip, saying, "Resign."

Conservative influencer "IT Guy" tweeted, "’We had potholes in South Bend’ isn’t exactly the same as an entire town chemically nuked."

RNC rapid response director Tommy Pigott shared a Fox News Digital article covering the "pothole problem" Buttigieg had as mayor, and commented, "Buttigieg couldn’t even fix potholes as mayor - he needed Domino’s to step in."

Lawyer and conservative commentator Ari Goldkind torched the former mayor, stating, "It’s amazing the power of his privilege to smooth talk the talk but never be able to walk the walk. Not once.  Ever. And South Bend vs this? A slap in the face to this…."

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Washington Examiner columnist Ian Haworth commented, "The biggest disaster to strike South Bend, Indiana, was @PeteButtigieg."

Steve Guest, special advisor for communications for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted, "REMINDER: As Mayor of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg tore down houses in black and Latino neighborhoods."

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