Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after he accused Buttigieg of pursuing "woke initatives" over the East Palestine train derailment.
The chemical spill and subsequent controlled burn from the disaster prompted residents within a 1-mile radius of the accident to be evacuated and kicked off emergency responses from teams in Ohio and West Virginia as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
McConnell—who represents Kentucky—had earlier said on the Senate floor that Buttigieg prioritized "pursuing press coverage for woke initatives and climate nonsense":
“Even amidst a catalog of crises on his watch, from this and other recent train derailments to the meltdown in air travel back during the holiday season, Secretary Buttigieg has seemed more interested in pursuing press coverage for woke initiatives and climate nonsense than in attending to basic elements of his day job."
Buttigieg has had to contend with criticism from Republicans who've sought to blame him for the disaster these last few weeks and quickly issued a response to McConnell during an appearance on CNN.
Buttigieg pointed to the Brent Spence Bridge—a major thoroughfare for both local and national traffic that connects northern Kentucky to Southern Ohio—as an example of infrastructure that would benefit from his department's plans.
He also said McConnell could choose not to attack the Biden administration and instead “could be a partner” to the administration “in making sure that there are fewer rail disasters in the future.”
You can hear what Buttigieg said in the video below.
\u201cPete Buttigieg on Mitch McConnell's criticisms: "First of all, Leader McConnell was there celebrating the replacement of the Brent Spence Bridge, a major infrastructure project that we are funding in his state. I would not call the Brent Spence Bridge a 'woke initiative.'"\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
Buttigieg said:
“I would not call the Brent Spence Bridge a ‘woke initiative.' As for climate, climate is not nonsense. Dealing with climate change is one of the biggest things that people like me, and people like him will be remembered for after we’re gone.” ...
“As I mentioned earlier, the rail — the freight rail industry — has wielded a lot of power here in Washington. I would love to see Leader McConnell join us in standing up to them. There are specific things that could be done right now … He could work with us right now." ...
“So if [McConnell] is serious about this, if anyone, Republican or Democrat or Independent, is serious about this, they can work with us today."
He also tweeted his challenge to McConnell to:
"[join] us in standing up to the railroad industry lobby to make hazardous trains safer."
\u201cRespectfully, the Brent Spence bridge we're funding in Kentucky is hardly a "woke initiative." Fighting climate change isn't "nonsense." \n\nAnd Leader McConnell could be enormously helpful by joining us in standing up to the railroad industry lobby to make hazardous trains safer.\u201d— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@Secretary Pete Buttigieg) 1677595696
Earlier this week, Politico reported the Trump administration "withdrew an Obama-era proposal to require faster brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials, ended regular rail safety audits of railroads, and mothballed a pending rule requiring freight trains to have at least two crew members."
McConnell is married to Elaine Chao, who served as the nation's Secretary of Transportation during the Trump administration and oversaw these efforts.
Many have praised Buttigieg for his response and criticized McConnell directly.
\u201c@atrupar Don\u2019t come for Pete unless he calls you.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar Also - yes, we need to use the federal govt for "woke initiatives" AKA programs and projects that benefit and mitigate harms to those who are not white straight men. So sick of the blatant bigotry allowed to slide in this republican war on "woke." It is white supremacy.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar The nerve of Moscow Mitch to criticize Pete Buttigieg when his corrupt wife Elaine Chao, trump's former Transportation secretary, played a role in allowing railway companies' deregulation.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar They've all gotten the memo about jamming "woke" into every other sentence.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar McConnell has to deflect from his his party\u2019s antics at this time - but he\u2019s picking the wrong target to do use\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar Pete does this right. Guy is going to be president one day.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar Apparently anything that helps and improves the American people\u2019s quality of life is a woke initiative.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
\u201c@atrupar Mitch is very lucky Pete is not exposing his wife's malpractice when she had his job. After all, she was instrumental in rolling back safety regulations in the transportation industry including rail.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1677592309
Buttigieg recently released a plan to build racial equity into the nation's infrastructure, a move that has angered conservatives and spurred many of their criticisms about his "wokeness."
Earlier this month, former MTV VJ and current Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery sparked outrage online after she called Buttigieg "a cracker who only wants to racially divide the country further” after he released the plan.
Kennedy Montgomery's remark came in response to her co-host Julie Banderas' comments on a $662 million grant program for ports administered by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Banderas said Buttigieg's efforts are "obviously the left politicizing" because the grant money is reserved for “projects that address equity and environmental justice, particularly for communities that have experienced decades of underinvestment and are most impacted by climate change, pollution, and environmental hazards.”
