Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said at an event today that, “When we envision travel for the next 50 years, the train should be a common sense option. The rumble of rails. The freedom of looking out your train window should once again be known to be as all-American as the open road”:
Buttigieg in North Carolina today via press pool: "When we envision travel for the next 50 years, the train should be a common sense option. The rumble of rails. The freedom of looking out your train window should once again be known to be as all-American as the open road."
— Sam Mintz (@samjmintz) April 30, 2021
Um . . .
May I ask how he got to North Carolina? https://t.co/Vmf2cQxYct
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 30, 2021
Well, he did promise to be pro-train as Transportation Secretary:
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): "You discussed that with me … You enjoy actually traveling on Amtrak."
Transportation Sec. nominee Pete Buttigieg: "I do, I enjoy long train trips, as well as short ones." pic.twitter.com/WUmWnc4BqJ
— The Recount (@therecount) January 21, 2021
But back when Buttigieg was running for president, he said he had to take private jets from place to place because the “common sense” train or driving option just wasn’t fast enough:
Here at the Iowa State Fair, a voter asked Pete Buttigieg about his campaign’s use of private planes— Buttigieg told him, “Unfortunately, I find that driving or traveling by train is not enough to get us across the country to meet all the voters that I’ve got to interact with.” pic.twitter.com/XWiXswe1hm
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) August 13, 2019
In other words, YOU have to travel by train with all the inconveniences that entails. THEY will still travel by private jet.
And it is good to see people from all political sides mocking him over it:
Trains are a gateway drug to forming accidental murder pacts with strangers. Just say no. https://t.co/UR1VdtQl4f
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) April 30, 2021
If you are hearing "the rumble of rails," you're not on a high-speed train. You're on the same damn Amtrak I rode in the early 1990s. https://t.co/mdiUTvPD15
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) April 30, 2021
This is stupid lol. https://t.co/Z0CFPnVm33
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) April 30, 2021
Pete: Trains are not freedom. My car is freedom. Trains are great. I loved trains when I was eight. I have zero interest in trains as a substantial part of my transportation future, and about 95% of America agrees with me. https://t.co/7dFdRI8ckN
— Mark Davis (@MarkDavis) April 30, 2021
High speed rail doesn't really rumble. https://t.co/VkjVJJorEB
— Clayton Guse (@ClaytonGuse) April 30, 2021
Trains are the worst way to travel, hands down. I do not want to live in train country. https://t.co/GNUFr2VsnX
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) April 30, 2021
This dude is trying to "Single White Female" Joe Biden. https://t.co/7b4gl5XzHw
— Bryan Tucker (@BTuckertime) April 30, 2021
Good Lord. https://t.co/FOZqb0nXEE
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) April 30, 2021
Since Pete wants old-timey transportation, can we get some zeppelins or bobsleds? https://t.co/iND38oF42u
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) April 30, 2021
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