The train derailment and chemical burn in Ohio was one disaster. The other disaster is Pete Buttigieg and the Biden administration’s response.
Buttigieg has been virtually invisible throughout this, and when he does comment he makes excuses.
Now Florida Senator Marco Rubio is calling for Biden to fire Buttigieg over the awful response.
The Washington Examiner reports:
Ohio train derailment: Rubio demands Biden fire Buttigieg
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) demanded that President Joe Biden ask for the resignation of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over his handling of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.
While focusing on the train derailment as an example of Buttigieg’s “gross level of incompetence and apathy,” Rubio alleged that it was only the latest example of a two-year pattern.
“For two years, Secretary Buttigieg downplayed and ignored crisis after crisis, while prioritizing topics of little relevance to our nation’s transportation system,” Rubio wrote in a letter to Biden.
“It is painfully clear to the American people that Secretary Buttigieg has little regard for the duties of the Secretary of Transportation,” he added.
He accused Rubio of grossly mismanaging the East Palestine train derailment, thus contributing to the scale of the disaster.
“At no time has that been more apparent than the past two weeks. Secretary Buttigieg refused to acknowledge the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, until his intentional ignorance was no longer tenable,” he wrote.
“Even after acknowledging the tragedy, he continues to deflect any accountability for the safety of our nation’s rail system. The circumstances leading up to the derailment point to a clear lack of oversight and demand engagement by our nation’s top transportation official,” he continued.
Rubio isn’t always right, but he is right about this.
Buttigieg should resign or be fired.