Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg lashed out at his critics in a wide-ranging interview with CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere, saying the accusation that he only visited East Palestine, Ohio because former President Donald Trump went there was “bullsh*t.” Oh, and he also defended his choice of footwear.

Last month’s derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that was carrying toxic chemicals has outraged local residents and led to calls for increased regulations.

Buttigieg acknowledged he should have visited East Palestine earlier — he did not go until Feb. 23, one day after Trump was there — and “failed to anticipate the political fallout from the toxic train derailment,” wrote Dovere. “But he also punched back at critics, arguing that many of the problems he’s being blamed for are only partially connected to his portfolio and mostly out of his direct control.”

The secretary’s staff pointed out to CNN the 23 interviews he gave in the nearly three weeks after the trail derailment before GOP politicians started attacking him, noting that Buttigieg was never asked one question about East Palestine until there was Republican criticism.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine — a Republican — has also praised the cooperation and support he has received from the Biden administration, although he did join recent calls for President Joe Biden to visit East Palestine.

None of Buttigieg’s predecessor Transportation Secretaries had ever visited a train derailment site, Dovere wrote, and Buttigieg originally did not view it as necessary, but “the experience was searing” when he saw the aftermath of the incident in person:

“I could get technical readouts, information about the response. But 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,” Buttigieg said, talking about the sight of twisted metal and smell of chemicals in the air. “It just feels different.”

Buttigieg also called both Trump’s visit and the attention to his boots “maddening,” criticizing the ex-president for having done “a lot try to gut not just rail safety regulations, but the EPA, which is the number one thing standing between that community and a total loss of accountability for Norfolk Southern and then show up giving out bottled water and campaign swag?”

Regarding his leather dress boots (as seen in photo above), which drew mockery and criticism mostly from conservatives online, Dovere describes Buttigieg’s voice as getting “tighter” as he responded.

“Who cares what shoes I was wearing, when I was there to draw attention to an agenda that will save lives on our railroads?” said Buttigieg.

He also rejected the accusations that he was “pressured” by Trump’s visit to East Palestine.

“That’s bull—-,” he said. “We were already going to go.”

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden told reporters that he was also planning to visit East Palestine, saying “I will be out there at some point.”

Read the full interview at CNN.

The post Pete Buttigieg Says It’s ‘Bullsh*t’ He Only Visited East Palestine Because Trump Went First, Calls Criticism of His Shoes ‘Maddening’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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