Trump, Buttigieg and Disaster Politics

In his first public comments since the Feb. 3 disaster, Buttigieg admitted on Monday that he “could have spoken out sooner.” Yet he still failed to share specific plans on how he will help the locals affected by the derailment or when he will visit the site of the transportation calamity.

“I am very interested in getting to know the residents of East Palestine, hearing from them about how they’ve been impacted and communicating with them about the steps that we’re taking,” Buttigieg said on a conference call with the press. “When the time is right, I do plan to visit East Palestine. I don’t have a date for you right now.”

Despite repeated calls from Ohioans and the mayor of East Palenstine for the transportation secretary to visit the afflicted site and address residents’ ongoing concerns, Buttigieg once again confirmed on Tuesday that he has not set a date for a trip.

“Are you going down there at all?” Taer asked during their exchange.

“Yep, I am,” Buttigieg replied.

“When are you going?” Taer pressed.

“I’ll share that when I’m ready,” Buttigieg said.

That was Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s vastly unqualified  Secretary of Transportation exactly 19 days after a catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio left 10 cars carrying hazardous chemical smoldering in the backyards of working-class Americans. These folks are experiencing all manner of health problems and are worried about their drinking water and air quality, yet the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, population 103,000 - was taking what he called “personal time” Tuesday for a stroll and didn’t want to commit to visiting the disaster site.

But on Wednesday, one day later, Buttigieg did an about-face and announced that he’d be arriving in Ohio today.

Thursday.

Hmmmm. What changed?

Looks like former President Donald Trump embarrassed the White House by beating the Biden administration for the first East Palestine photo op.

Best of all, he arrived Wednesday with thousands of bottles of drinking water from various Trump properties, embossed with the Trump logo.

Shameless politicking?

You bet. And in doing so he managed to make Buttigieg look out of touch and uncaring.

Government leaders rushing to the scene of any emergency is a form of performance art. But it matters.

So do optics.

And there were terrible optics of Biden - on Presidents Day - visiting Ukraine and showering that country with money and concern, while showing no interest or largesse in Ohio.

According to some news accounts, Ohioans appeared to appreciate Trump’s visit.

Funny thing about that. When ordinary people fall victim to catastrophic failures of government, corporations or even natural disasters, they want to believe someone cares.

Even Buttigeig should know that. He doesn’t.

One of his first reactions to the derailment was to shrug and point out there are about 1,000 derailments a year. Most don’t involve highly toxic chemicals, but that difference seemed to escape the notice of the former small town mayor.

Like the rest of the Biden Administration Buttigieg is tone deaf.