Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg might have to start biking to work again like a total nerd. That's because the Mexican-made electric SUV he purchased last year for his security detail is being recalled due to a safety defect that "could result in a loss of power [while driving], which could cause a crash," according to Consumer Reports.
Ford announced Tuesday that it was instructing car dealers to stop selling the Mustang Mach-E in response to the safety concern affecting nearly 49,000 of the 100,000 vehicles manufactured at the automaker's Cuautitlan plant in Mexico between 2020 and 2022. The company decided to make the cars in Mexico because it was a lot cheaper than hiring American workers to do it in this country.
The development could undermine Buttigieg's controversial suggestion that hardworking Americans should stop complaining about record gas prices and buy expensive electric cars so that they'll "never have to worry about gas prices again." The Mach-E has a starting price of $43,895, although most new models for sale in the Washington, D.C., area are listed in the $60,000 to $80,000 price range.
Buttigieg, 40, is the former mayor of South Bend, the fourth-largest city in Indiana. He has high, high hopes for his political future. While his presidential campaign in 2020 didn't pan out so well, he did develop a niche fanbase of wealthy white liberals in "boat shoe" strongholds such as Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. His failure to win a statistically significant percentage of black voters in the Democratic primary has not stopped some party officials from floating his name as a potential nominee to replace President Joe Biden on the ticket in 2024.
The Department of Transportation did not return a request for comment about whether Buttigieg's security detail's Mach-E was affected by the recall.