Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has chosen unpopular Biden Administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a perennial foil of hers on social media.
She had criticized Buttigieg for taking paternity leave when his first child was born, for example.
Boebert has called Buttigieg the worst Transportation Secretary in the history of the United States.
Pete Buttigieg certainly is the worst Transportation Secretary in the history of our country.
He has presided over one massive debacle after another.
For the first time in my life, Americans have been made to think of the Department of Transportation.
In contrast, before Buttigieg, absolutely no one gave a thought or care about that part of the Administrative State. And most Americans have a dim view of Buttigieg’s leadership there.
Boebert Lives in a Glass House and Shouldn’t Throw Stones
Boebert’s criticism of Buttigieg is not unfounded at all.
But her delivery and the fact that she is the source of these attacks is problematic because Boebert is a glittering example of that old saw“[T]hose who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
Boebert has attacked Buttigieg’s family. Yet, her family is in complete disarray.
She has assaulted Buttigieg’s management of the Department of Transportation.
Although, her leadership in Congress has been abysmal.
With little legislative achievements under her belt—despite a massive presence in the press—and collapsing support within her own district back home in Colorado, Boebert is presiding over a bit of a debacle of her own.
Still, she managed to get the better of the embattled Buttigieg in most of their Twitter exchanges. As is the risk with Twitter spats between two major and controversial public figures.
However, all it takes is for one zinger by the aggrieved party to reset the match and place Boebert back on her high heels.
The tempo of the spat shifted against Boebert after she posted a provocative (and fake) image of herself shooting a fire hose into a burning train with the caption “Preparing for Pete Buttigieg’s Next Train Derailment.” This was a reference to the devastating (though now conveniently forgotten by the mainstream press) train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in a massive toxic chemical spill that many critics of the Biden Administration rightly referred to as “America’s Chernobyl”.
The problem facing Lauren Boebert is that, while Buttigieg and the Biden Administration are at fault for the train derailment, she is also a vocal critic of regulations of the kind that are meant to make America’s railways safer.
So, while Boebert’s initial tweet was funny, she opened herself up to the kind of retort that goes viral.
Buttigieg got Boebert with a pithy response. He simply reminded her that Boebert’s proposed budget cuts for the federal government included cutting the regulations that allow for Buttigieg’s department to oversee railway safety—the kinds of regulations that are meant to prevent derailments of the sort that occurred in East Palestine.
Buttigieg and Lauren Boebert Are Meant for Each Other
Of course, Buttigieg is shamelessly attempting to absolve both himself as well as his department with that tweet.
He can blame the previous Republican administration for having initiated some regulatory cuts.
Buttigieg can deflect from himself by further blaming austerity-crazed Republicans in the House of Representatives who are threatening deeper cuts to the Department of Transportation’s abilities to enforce railway safety standards.
Ultimately, however, Buttigieg is the Transportation Secretary. It is up to him to be aware of these risks and to be doing everything in his power to avoid them or, at least, to warn the public about the impending dangers.
Clearly, Buttigieg is so disengaged from the inner workings of his own department that he was blissfully unaware of the risk of train derailment.
He never even attempted to order his people to enforce the regulations that exist for making trains safer. He’s just engaged in a massive rear-end covering action.
And thanks to the fact that the least intelligent elected House Republican is leading the attack against Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary just might save some of his own reputation because Boebert has erred so badly in her public conflict with the Transportation Secretary.
Both Lauren Boebert and Buttigieg need to leave their respective offices forever. Maybe they can be the stars of a new reality television show that pits our least popular, most obnoxious politicians to fight each other to exhaustion (since so many of them really want to be celebrities rather than statesmen and women).
Because, as it stands, both Boebert and Buttigieg’s schticks are tiresome.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
