Pete Buttigieg calls out Donald Trump on his bullsh*t over rail safety

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has called on Donald Trump to do something meaningful to boost rail safety. That, of course, is beyond turning up in East Palestine, Ohio, to hand out bottles of Trump Water.

Buttigieg traveled to the region yesterday, a day after former President Trump turned up. Both showed up to visit the site of a train derailment that led to toxic contamination.

Buttigieg took the opportunity to highlight railway deregulations introduced during the Trump era. The Biden administration wants to roll these back to improve rail safety.

“One thing he can do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch,” Buttigieg said during his visit.

“I heard him say he had nothing to do with it, even though it was in his administration. So, if he had nothing to do with it and they did it in his administration against his will, maybe he can come out and say that he supports us moving in a different direction.”

Buttigieg: One thing Trump can do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch. I heard him say he had nothing to do with it. So if he had nothing to do with it.. pic.twitter.com/GclGYPOm3l

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 23, 2023

Related: Marco Rubio just learned the hard way why you should never start a Twitter spat with Pete Buttigieg

The White House has previously highlighted a letter sent by Republican Senators in 2021. It urged the Federal Railroad Administration to expand the use of automated track inspection, instead of using actual staff.

Politico also says the Trump administration withdrew an Obama-era proposal to require faster brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials and mothballed a rule requiring freight trains to have at least two crew members.

Buttigieg said that if Trump really cared about rail safety, he’d voice support for the White House plans.

“I’ve got to think that him indicating that this is something that everybody, no matter how much you disagree on politics and presidential campaigns, can get behind — higher fines, tougher regulations on safety, Congress untying our hands on breaking rules, all the other things that go with that — that would be a nice thing for him to do,” Buttigieg said.

“Ironic”

Buttigieg repeated the message in an interview with MSNBC. Buttigieg said it was “ironic” for Trump to show up at the site.

“It was definitely an ironic thing to do. You water down regulations, you weaken the power of the administration to deal with freight railroad companies, and then you show up wanting to be a great friend of the people who have been impacted by a rail disaster.”

Buttigieg on MSNBC on irony of Trump going to East Palestine: “You water down regulations, you weaken the power of the administration to deal with freight railroad companies, & then you show up wanting to be a great friend of the people who have been impacted by a rail disaster.” pic.twitter.com/vh0s3ylnVe

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 24, 2023

Lauren Boebert and Don Jr. wade in

Buttigieg has faced sustained criticism over the Ohio derailment. He has conceded he should have publicly said something about the derailment sooner. This week, he went on the offensive, getting into Twitter spats with GOP lawmakers Marco Rubio and Rick Scott over his handling of the incident.

Another GOP figure fond of criticizing Buttigieg is Rep. Lauren Boebert. She has criticized him for not doing enough to address the Ohio situation. Instead, she has questioned him recently discussing the lack of ethnic minority workers in the construction industry.

Just another white, male construction worker https://t.co/iQ5t6NOw1S

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 23, 2023

On the subject of Trump’s visit to Ohio, his son, Donald Trump Jr. made a bold claim yesterday. He said his father’s visit to the area was more dangerous than President Biden’s visit to Kyiv, Ukraine earlier this week, “given the chemicals around”.​​

Junior says it took more bravery and courage for his dad to go to Ohio than for Biden to go to Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/HHzOOr9E3O

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 23, 2023

Donald Trump Sr. yesterday followed up his Ohio visit by posting about the social media reach his trip generated.

Trump posted ratings results for East Palestine train disaster visit. pic.twitter.com/YonyjqQ1ik

— PatriotTakes (@patriottakes) February 24, 2023

Yesterday, the National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report into the Ohio derailment. It said it was due to a wheel bearing severely overheating on one of the carriages. Track sensors picked up the overheating and the train applied its brakes, but it was too late to avert the derailment. The agency says there is no evidence the train’s crew did anything wrong.