Jason Chaffetz: Joe Biden and former rival Pete Buttigieg — what's really behind Transportation nomination
Pete Buttigieg will likely be confirmed as transportation secretary by the Senate, but it won’t be because he has any experience or qualifications for the job
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Where does President-elect Joe Biden want Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and failed presidential candidate? As far away as possible.
After Biden nominated Buttigieg to be secretary of transportation this week, many in the media gushed that Buttigieg will make history if he is confirmed by the Senate and becomes the first openly gay Cabinet member. There was less gushing about his nonexistent qualifications for the job.
NPR even tweeted Buttigieg’s quote about his "personal love of transportation," prompting a wave of ridicule on Twitter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Biden apparently felt pressure to appoint his former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination to something, but clearly doesn’t want the 38-year-old former mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana close or in the limelight.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY NOMINEE, HAD A POTHOLE PROBLEM AS MAYOR
But where could Biden put Mayor Pete?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}First, there were a series of reports that Buttigieg wanted to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — a high-profile position with consequential interaction with the president. Buttigieg has no international experience to justify such an important role. But why should the left-wing media or Democrats care?
Biden instead selected Linda Thomas-Greenfield — with 35 years of State Department service, including serving as ambassador to six countries — as his pick to go to the U.N.
Next in Buttigieg’s job search came word that Biden was considering nominating the former mayor to be America’s next ambassador to China. This is one of our country’s most important diplomatic posts, given the complexity of our trade with China, military conflicts, Chinese spying on the U.S., China’s moves to claim sovereignty over the territorial waters of its neighbors, and our precarious reliance on China to fund our debt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NPR GUSHES OVER BUTTIGIEG’S ‘PERSONAL LOVE OF TRANSPORTATION,’ QUICKLY GETS ROASTED
On top of this, Biden, his brother Jim, and his son Hunter are embroiled in what looks like a scandal involving their business relationships with China — not to be confused with a similar scandal involving Ukraine.
China is perhaps our most important rival today. Our relationship with the Communist nation is one of our most sensitive and complex in the world.
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Biden seems to have figured out that the former mayor a city of 102,000 residents is not the best person to manage our relationship with a nation of 1.4 billion people. Buttigieg doesn’t speak Mandarin, has no diplomatic experience, and no other qualifications to be our ambassador to China.
So, what to do with Mayor Pete?
Ten years ago, Buttigieg failed to win election as Indiana state treasurer. In 2017 he failed to win the race for chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Moving on from those losses he sought the Democratic presidential nomination this year and did well in the Iowa caucuses before quickly dropping out due to a lack of support and enthusiasm.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY NOMINEE, HAD A POTHOLE PROBLEM AS MAYOR
Biden says he thinks of Buttigieg as his son, but that doesn’t mean he wants to spend time with him or help him grow his political chops.
Ah, the perfect role! Heading the Department of Transportation, the Siberia of politics, never to be heard from again. No big controversies, not much attention from the media, and not someone the president needs to meet with often.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This nomination also highlights the lack of credentials in Buttigieg’s curriculum vitae, except potholes.
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When he was mayor of South Bend, what did Buttigieg do for transportation? Evidently not much. In 2019, the South Bend Tribune reported that the city of 42 square miles — in a state of 36,418 square miles — had the "worst pothole situation in the state." Motorists were heading to repair shops to fix damage to their vehicles caused by the large number of unrepaired potholes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Taking advantage of a "Paving for Pizza" promotion from Domino’s Pizza, South Bend was offered $5,000 to fix some potholes. But with restaurants suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic, we shouldn’t expect Mayor Pete will be able to get restaurants to donate the billions of dollars needed to fix America’s roads today.
Biden claims that he and his wife are close personal friends of Buttigieg and his husband. But in introducing Buttigieg to the media as his nominee for transportation secretary, Biden momentarily referring to Mayor Pete’s husband Chasten as "Kristen" before correcting himself. Hmm … maybe the two couples are not all that close.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pete Buttigieg will likely be confirmed as transportation secretary by the Senate, but it won’t be because he has any experience or qualifications for the job.
Secretary Buttigieg will probably do little to make news, say little, and have little chance of expanding his political resume. And that will probably suit Joe Biden just fine.