Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was mocked after a video of his staff removing a bike from the back of an SUV so the secretary could ride it to the White House emerged.
Buttigieg’s security detail followed him in a pair of gas-guzzling Chevrolet SUVs as the millennial secretary made his way to the White House for President Joe Biden’s first Cabinet meeting as commander in chief.
“Pete Buttigieg has a history of gimmicky stunts, just for show, like doing a desk job on a military base for a few weeks, then trying to pose as a combat veteran. Now this phony stunt,” radio host Mark Simone said of the incident, referencing to Buttigieg’s service with the Navy. The secretary deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and worked as an intelligence officer and armed driver.
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Pete Buttigieg has a history of gimmicky stunts, just for show, like doing a desk job on a military base for a few weeks, then trying to pose as a combat veteran. Now this phony stunt: https://t.co/9Pq9d3dTi9
— MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) April 2, 2021
Sebastian Gorka, a conservative commentator, called Buttigieg the “Alfred E. Neuman of the Biden Cabinet” in a Newsmax appearance, referencing a nickname former President Donald Trump gave to Buttigieg during the 2020 election. Gorka added that Biden’s administration was “built on lies” and is full of “propagandists.” Author Jack Posobiec called the transportation secretary the “fakest of them all” and “amoral” in a tweet accompanying the video of the secretary’s jaunt.
Some commentators pointed out that Buttigieg has been an advocate of a transformative energy and climate policy and that his bike “stunt” doesn’t compensate for the emissions that are released by the two SUVs flanking him.
How effective is biking for the environment if you also have a giant SUV following behind you? Or is this just like an exercise thing? https://t.co/6t7w6VB81W
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) April 1, 2021
The giant SUV shadow would seem to wipe out the climate benefit of biking for @SecretaryPete https://t.co/tqOCfEExg0
— Corbin Hiar (@CorbinHiar) April 1, 2021
So green…especially the security detail that followed him in his government SUV. #PhotoOpBS and, of course, CNN falls for it. https://t.co/JDpv5ZXDhl
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) April 1, 2021
The National Highway Transportation Association praised Buttigieg for following safe biking practices by using a helmet, light, and reflective gear on his ride.
✔️ Helmet
✔️ Reflective gear
✔️ Flashing lightThanks for walking the walk or should we say biking the bike @secretarypete https://t.co/qbYaCND3FU
— nhtsagov (@NHTSAgov) April 2, 2021
The secretary has faced criticism in recent weeks for saying that a mileage tax “shows a lot of promise.”
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“The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it — it’s not anymore, so a so-called vehicle-miles-traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it,” Buttigieg told CNBC last week, adding that the administration was open to an increase in the gas tax if “there’s a way to do it that doesn’t increase the burden on the middle class.”
Those proposals were not included in Biden’s $2.1 trillion infrastructure plan, which establishes of a clean electricity standard, a $174 billion investment in electric cars, the creation of a “Civilian Climate Corps,” and a requirement that federal buildings be powered by green energy.
