交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格周日对共和党领导的批评者对他的回应进行了尖锐的批评俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦有毒火车出轨事件，二月。
在一个CNN的采访但蒂吉格提出了迄今为止最激烈的辩护，试图反驳拜登政府不关心蓝领镇的说法，称他的批评者是真正脱离实际的人。
“真的很高兴看到这些人——前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)，这些福克斯主持人——他们实际上是东海岸精英的终身持卡成员，他们的首要经济政策一直是为富人减税，如果他们的生活依赖于此，他们不会知道他们在T.J. Maxx周围的道路，他们似乎真的关心这个国家被遗忘的中部，”Buttigieg说。
交通部长、印第安纳州南本德市前市长也在2020年竞选总统，他特别针对上个月访问东巴勒斯坦的特朗普。
在东巴勒斯坦，特朗普赞扬了当地的救援人员，并说:“这个社区现在需要的不是借口...而是答案和结果。”
特朗普还表示，他的行程迫使Buttigieg随后露面。
“这是胡说八道，”Buttigieg告诉CNN。“我们已经打算去了。”
他说，特朗普在白宫期间放松了环境和铁路监管后访问东巴勒斯坦，“然后出现在分发瓶装水和竞选礼品的地方”，这“有点令人抓狂”
自从上个月火车出轨和对车上有毒化学物质扩散的担忧以来，Buttigieg一直是保守派攻击的目标。
他向CNN承认，他应该早点去事故现场，他说，“有时候人们需要政策工作，有时候人们需要表演工作。要达到这一水平，你必须准备好同时满足这两种需求。”
正如拜登政府的一些支持者所指出的那样，交通部长通常不会去视察火车出轨事件。但是亲自到那里是有价值的，但蒂吉格说:“我认为重要的是听到和看到社区是如何回应的，他们担心什么只是你可以在纸上感受到的不同方式。”
但是共和党人继续他们的调查在此之前，有人批评国防部长处理西南航空这样的问题的方式假日季节航班崩溃。
佛罗里达州参议员马尔科·卢比奥和其他人说，Buttigieg应该辞职。一些人针对第一个被参议院确认的公开同性恋内阁成员，攻击他的性取向。
小唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump Jr .)坚持认为，Buttigieg之所以被选中是因为他是“那个同性恋”，而福克斯新闻频道主持人塔克·卡尔森(Donald Trump Jr .)则称他“极其无能”，达到了“邪恶”的程度
Buttigieg的民主党辩护人说，这些攻击是错误的，虽然Buttigieg可以更早地进行访问，但共和党人高估了他改善问题的能力，同时利用他过去的总统竞选作为攻击的低挂水果。
“也许他们认为，因为他竞选总统，他是一个容易击中的目标，”即将离任的劳工部长马蒂沃尔什告诉美国有线电视新闻网。“人们总是说，Buttigieg部长下一步会做什么?“Buttigieg下一步要做什么，”我们谈过了。他下一步要做的是当交通部长。"
Buttigieg pushes back on East Palestine criticism, calls Trump's trip there 'somewhat maddening'
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Sunday had sharp words for the chorus of Republican-led critics to his responseto the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
In aninterview with CNN, Buttigieg offered his most vociferous defense to date, seeking to rebut claims that the Biden administration doesn't care about the blue-collar town by casting his detractors as the ones truly out of touch.
"It's really rich to see some of these folks -- the former president [Donald Trump], these Fox hosts -- who are literally lifelong card-carrying members of the East Coast elite, whose top economic policy priority has always been tax cuts for the wealthy, and who wouldn’t know their way around a T.J. Maxx if their life depended on it, to be presenting themselves as if they genuinely care about the forgotten middle of the country," Buttigieg said.
The transportation chief, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who also ran for president in 2020, took specific aim at Trump, who visited East Palestine last month.
While in East Palestine, Trump praised local responders and said, "What this community needs now are not excuses ... but answers and results."
Trump also said his trip pressured Buttigieg to subsequently make his own appearance.
"That's bull----," Buttigieg told CNN. "We were already going to go."
He said it was "somewhat maddening" that Trump would visit East Palestine after easing environmental and rail regulations during his time in the White House "and then show up giving out bottled water and campaign swag."
Buttigieg has been the target of a fusillade of conservative attacks since last month's train derailment and concerns over the spread of the noxious chemicals that were on board.
He conceded to CNN that he should have gone to the site of the crash sooner, saying, "Sometimes people need policy work, and sometimes people need performative work. And to get to this level, you’ve got to be ready to serve up both.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during a news conference, Feb. 23, 2023, near the site of the Feb. 3 Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Matt Freed/AP, FILE
Transportation secretaries do not typically visit train derailments, as some Biden administration supporters have noted. But being there in person was valuable, Buttigieg said: "I think it was important to hear and see how the community was responding, what they were worried about it just a different way that you can sense on paper."
But Republicanshave kept up their scrutiny, which follows past criticism of how the secretary handled issues like Southwest'sholiday season flight meltdowns.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and others have said Buttigieg should resign. Some have personally targeted the first openly gay Cabinet member to be confirmed by the Senate, with attacks on his sexuality.
Donald Trump Jr. insisted that Buttigieg was only tapped for his job because he was "that gay guy,” while Fox News host Tucker Carlson has referred to him as "flamboyantly incompetent" to the point of "evil."
Buttigieg's Democratic defenders say those attacks are off base and that while Buttigieg could have made the trip earlier, Republicans are overestimating his ability to ameliorate the issue while using his past presidential bid as low hanging fruit for attacks.
"Maybe they think that because he ran for president, he’s an easy target to hit," outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told CNN. "People always say, 'What's Secretary Buttigieg going to do next? What's Buttigieg going to do next?' We've talked. What he's going to do next is be secretary of transportation."
