During his tenure as transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg has overseen crisis after crisis: the grounding of all U.S. commercial flights for the first time since the September 11 terror attacks; a supply chain meltdown that kept cargo ships from entering American ports; failed union negotiations that nearly shut down rails nationwide; and most recently, a train derailment and ensuing chemical explosion that forced thousands of Ohioans to flee their homes.
Through it all, the Democratic wunderkind has focused on bigger priorities, like vacationing in Portugal and criticizing construction workers for being too white.
If you thought Buttigieg was ill-prepared when President Joe Biden tapped the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., to oversee the country's transportation system, you're not alone. Biden himself warned about Buttigieg's experience in an attack ad during the 2020 presidential primaries.
"Joe Biden helped save the auto industry, which helped revitalize the economy of the Midwest," states a February 2020 Biden campaign ad. "Pete Buttigieg revitalized the sidewalks of downtown South Bend by laying out decorative brick."
TRAIN WRECK: All the Transportation Scandals on Pete Buttigieg's Watch