When Pete Buttigieg accepted the position of Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary, little did he know what he was signing up for.
No, we’re not talking about the job. We’re talking about the rent:
The rent in D.C. is too damn high for Pete and Chasten Buttigieg: "We couldn’t afford the one-bedroom-plus-den." https://t.co/WPcS5hXiko pic.twitter.com/YqtKMbhD0q
— Morgan Baskin (@mhbaskin) July 26, 2021
Oh, the humanity!
It should concern everyone that a top administration official working on $5T government spending plans can’t figure out how to survive in Washington on $220K/year. https://t.co/pEJt52xRrA
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 26, 2021
Dude responsible the transportation budget of the United States can’t manage his own finances to afford a one bedroom home. https://t.co/hmH7ik5cKr
— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) July 26, 2021
Really inspires confidence in Pete Buttigieg, doesn’t it?
As Mayor Pete plays a starring role in $5T of infrastructure spending, remember that during the primary Biden viciously mocked his transportation experience as decorating sidewalks and installing colored lights under bridges.
It was the best ad Biden ever did. pic.twitter.com/rbCOaYDkOq
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 26, 2021
Welp.
Is Chasten not working?
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 26, 2021
He just made a good amount on book deals but I’m not sure if he’s doing anything else
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 26, 2021
According to the Washington Post’s article, Chasten Buttigieg is currently unemployed.
One-bedroom apartments in D.C. may not be super-cheap, but if you can’t find one for under $4500 a month, chances are pretty good that you’re doing something wrong.
Not only is Pete’s salary $220K, he and Chasten made a TON on books and podcast deals.
Making over $500K/ year and complaining to the Post about DC (median income about $50K) being too expensive (while pushing policy to make it more expensive) is a LOOKhttps://t.co/YdMfbmcxoO
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) July 26, 2021
It certainly is a LOOK. And not a good one.
My roommate and I have a 2 bed/2 bath + den in the middle of the city and our rent costs nowhere near $4500 a month. https://t.co/sezxEHxNbS
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) July 26, 2021
DC's rent is very very high but the idea that you can't find a nice one-bedroom here for significantly less (and I mean thousands of dollars less) than $4,500 per month is just gaslighting. https://t.co/sjCQh5lyBw
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 26, 2021
You really have to appreciate the irony of Biden cabinet members bitching about prices of anything.
Also fun is Boot-edge-edge's suggestion that you can't get an apartment in DC for under $4500. That's like saying you can't afford a car while pointing to the price of a Bentley https://t.co/XzeWDMrerZ
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) July 26, 2021
This is just so funny, and so self-defeating. I know Buttigieg's last real life experience was living in South Bend, IN, but surely he has to know that the DC media either lives in DC or the near 'burbs and knows what rents are like? Expensive, sure, but they're not this. https://t.co/8JQ1CSTp28
— Jeff B. tried to do his best, but he could not (@EsotericCD) July 26, 2021
I have very low confidence in this guy's ability to manage the DOT (or anything) if he misunderstands the DC rental market this badly. https://t.co/KzIZF1VJx5
— 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘑. 𝘋𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 (@StevenJDuffield) July 26, 2021
https://t.co/758JjaKMII pic.twitter.com/6vET9wA4Ri
— Dr. Ricardo Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) July 26, 2021
You can always count on @dril to have a tweet somewhere that fits the situation.
Just like you can always count on the Washington Post to run interference for a Democrat:
Annnnd the Washington Post has updated this story since it was published.https://t.co/3fs5sUAW0Chttps://t.co/3jG2LEQbQn pic.twitter.com/0Um6zQRi4u
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 26, 2021
"…the rent and availability of apartments at the Buttigieges’ building has changed since this article was originally published…"
wow… it was originally published on *Friday*… pic.twitter.com/DzQgzeBqCb
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) July 26, 2021
Wow, the price of rent can change a lot over the weekend!
So did the Buttigieges ask for the "update" or did the reporter see the comments about the article?
— judy (@judy060709) July 26, 2021
In my career I have forced many, many corrections on the WashPost and, believe me, I have never seen them snap to it this willingly before.
— Jim McCarthy (@JMacNYC) July 26, 2021
The thing is, WaPo’s “correction” actually makes Pete and Chasten Buttigieg look even worse and more out-of-touch.
so now the contention is that $3,000 per month is somehow unaffordable for someone making $220,000 per year
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 26, 2021
Just amazing.
If you follow the advice of spending up to 1/3 of your income on housing, he can afford 6k a month. And that's on Pete's salary alone.
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) July 26, 2021
$220k/yr = $18,333.33/mo, rent at $3000/mo = ~16% housing expense, which is incredibly low considering lenders will underwrite mortgages up to 45-50% debt to income ratio. Not sure who he's trying to convince here
— Fedora Trenchcoat (@FTrenchcoat) July 26, 2021
Whoever he’s trying to convince is a real sucker if they fall for it.
And the icing on the cake?
So actually they have another home on Lake Michigan, too. Not too shabby after all.
— judy (@judy060709) July 26, 2021
If you read down farther, they also purchased a home on the lake in Traverse City MI- that is certainly not cheap
— Christine Breasbois (@ChristineBreas1) July 26, 2021
It certainly isn’t.
More from WaPo:
The couple sold their home in South Bend earlier this year, knowing they couldn’t keep up the old Victorian from afar. But they didn’t leave the Midwest behind entirely, purchasing a home on Lake Michigan, in Traverse City, Mich., where Chasten grew up and where his parents still live. He likes to escape there, when he can, to hang drywall with his dad and surround himself with old friends — “people who remind me of, like, me.”
Well, with a lake house to maintain and occasionally visit, no wonder the Buttigieges are struggling to stay afloat!
The moral of the story:
@PeteButtigieg simply has no credibility whatsoever.
— Vivienne Bouché (@BoucheVivienne) July 26, 2021