Reporter says Buttigieg's team ran when she tried to ask for 'accountability'

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Buttigieg's team ran away from me: Savanah Hernandez

TPUSA's Savanah Hernandez reports from East Palestine, Ohio, on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's visit on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Thursday, nearly three weeks after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed. 

Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez was at the scene and shouted questions at Buttigieg, who refused to answer. 

"Mayor Pete, why did it take you an entire two-and-a-half weeks to actually get here to respond to East Palestine?" Hernandez asked Buttigieg. "Will you apologize to the residents of this city?"

"Can we ask why it took him almost three weeks to get here?" she asked his press secretary, Kerry Arndt.

Arndt said she would answer questions, but did not want to be filmed. 

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White House officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, are calling for higher fines for railroad safety violations following their visit to the Norfolk Southern crash site in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Hernandez told host Laura Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle" that Arndt did not end up taking her questions. 

"Pete Buttigieg running away from me and the press secretary refusing to take any questions is the perfect example of what this entire administration thinks about the American people. They run away, they try to hide when we ask for accountability, when we ask for them to take responsibility and apologize for the slow governmental response," she said. 

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"The people here are some of the most kind and loving, and it's an absolute disgrace that the federal government has abandoned and ignored them."

Hernandez said the energy on the ground was palpably different from when former President Donald Trump visited the day before.

"The energy on the ground was incredible because the people just wanted a leader that would see them, that would care about them, that would tell them that they were not forgotten as American citizens," she said. 

The TPUSA frontline reporter said she wasn't allowed to ask questions at the main press conference because she wasn't approved press. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, near the site of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. ((AP Photo/Matt Freed))

"I'm not approved press and I never will be because I refuse to ask pre-written questions and pre-approved questions to the leaders we need to be holding accountable," Hernandez said. 

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"Shame on Pete Buttigieg and shame on his press secretary for not being able to answer questions on camera. She should probably read her job description."