Pete Buttigieg responds to Lauren Boebert’s trolling: After several days of criticism from the Colorado Congresswoman about every train derailment in the country, the Transportation secretary struck back on Twitter.
What We Know: Lauren Boebert vs. Mayor Pete
For several weeks, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has been trolling Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, every time there’s been a train derailment or other transportation mishap anywhere in the country.
On April 20, Lauren Boebert posted a likely photoshopped picture on her Twitter account, smiling as she sprayed a water hose at a burning train.
The photo was captioned — in two different places, for some reason — with “preparing for Mayor Pete’s next derailment.”
From his official account, Buttigieg quoted-tweeted the Congresswoman: “Your budget plan cuts railroad safety inspections.” This was in reference to the proposed budget from the House Freedom Caucus, of which Boebert is a member.
He elaborated below.
“We estimate its impact on FRA would mean about 1,000 fewer rail safety inspection days next year and 30,000 fewer miles of track inspected annually,” Buttigieg said. “If you care about preventing derailments, please change course and help us increase accountability for freight railroads.”
The Transportation Secretary furthered the feud in a CNN appearance.
“We have to call anybody who wants to make political hay out of transportation issues to the carpet and say ‘Are you serious or not?’” Buttigieg said.
Also this month, Boebert claimed that Buttigieg “can’t seem to fix the near-constant train derailments in our country, but he’s just come out and told us that car accidents are caused by racism.”
Buttigieg has not, in fact, claimed that “car accidents are caused by racism,” but he did say in a recent MSNBC interview that “Black and Brown Americans, tribal citizens and rural residents are much more likely to lose their lives whether it’s in a car or as a pedestrian being hit by a car”- something has been confirmed by past studies.
There have been various calls for Buttigieg to resign from elected officials, including Sen. Marco Rubio and various members of the House, although Buttigieg has pushed back on such calls and it does not appear his job is in any jeopardy.
Lauren Boebert Has Bigger Problems
Ironically, Boebert’s job may in fact be in some jeopardy.
In the 2022 election cycle, Boebert’s re-election was the closest Congressional race in the country, as Boebert was actually behind Democratic opponent Adam Frisch on election night and required a recount to ultimately pull ahead and win.
Frisch has announced that he’s running again in 2024, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has targeted the race as one of its most important in the upcoming cycle.
Frisch, as of the end of the last quarter, had raised $1.7 million, more than Boebert has raised up until now.
“One of our most effective comments that we talked about in the district was she’s not focused on the job, she’s focused on herself,” Frisch told The Hill earlier this month. “I can’t believe she had almost the most embarrassing loss in 20 years and she hasn’t changed one iota. She’s actually doubled down on crazy.”
Also this week, a school district in Boebert’s district was the site of a contentious argument over whether the Congresswoman should have been welcomed to speak there.
According to The Durango Herald, the Dolores RE-4A school board was the host of an argument over Boebert’s appearance before a student assembly in March. Parents were upset both about the appearance of Boebert, and that they weren’t allowed to watch it over Zoom.
“This is about holding you accountable for a very poor choice,” one parent told the board at the meeting, according to the newspaper. “I will not move forward … the school is absolutely wrong. There is clearly no leadership because the school did not stop this.”
The president of the board praised students for how they acted during the assembly.
“Our students asked terrific questions and were very respectful and attentive,” the president said. “I was proud of them; the whole community should be proud of them.”
Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
