While not the leader among Democrats for the 2028 presidential nomination, Pete Buttigieg is a favorite, trailing only California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris in recent polls. The one-time transportation secretary’s popularity in New Hampshire, which holds the country’s first presidential primary, could boost him to the top.
But what’s good for Pete Buttigieg in terms of political office is not in the best interests of our country.
Buttigieg, who was mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, and later became a Biden Cabinet member, puts out the right kind of vibes for a party that is more interested in appearances than substance. His record, however, does nothing to recommend him. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said, “on merit,” Buttigieg is “a failure.”
For instance, under Buttigieg, the Transportation Department spent tens of millions on a diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) agenda while neglecting to replace outdated air traffic control systems, the New York Post reported in July. One airline executive told the Post that Buttigieg had “little to no interest” in modernizing air traffic control and took “definitely zero action” toward that goal. Apparently, doing so would not help him politically.
Buttigieg also lowered the standards for being considered a “best-qualified” air traffic control candidate. Before Buttigieg, a “best-qualified” candidate had to score an 85 or higher on the skills exam. Under his “leadership,” the established procedure was replaced, says the Post, “with a two-tier system of ‘well-qualified’ for scores between 80-100 and ‘qualified’ for scores of 70-79.9.”
This might make some job candidates feel better about themselves and fit snugly into the “inclusion” subdivision of the DEI framework. But it doesn’t inspire confidence in our air traffic control system.
Buttigieg’s stewardship was clearly more inclined to slouching toward dereliction than improving the country’s transportation sector. For instance, he “put climate religion ahead of safety,” says Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, “blatantly” ignoring the advice of “engineers who warned of the danger of constructing wind turbines near railroads and highways.”
When wind turbines are located too close to rail lines, they can interfere with communications that are critical to rail safety. The Transportation Department says it found 33 projects in which “the original safety recommendation was rescinded” by Buttigieg’s management.
When he wasn’t disregarding valid counsel, he was absent.
Bob McEwen, a six-term Republican House member from Ohio’s 6th District, said that when a crisis arrived, Buttigieg “was nowhere to be found.” It took him a week to address the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment of a train carrying hazardous material, and then nearly three weeks for him to show up at the site, only to turn it “into little more than a photo opportunity,” McEwen wrote earlier this year in the DC Journal.
Another critical Buttigieg misstep, according to McEwen, was his crusade for an electric-vehicle mandate that would “bankrupt American automakers and cause mass unemployment for hundreds of thousands of autoworkers.”
The examples of “Mayor Pete’s” mismanagement hardly end there.
In 2021, when wireless carriers were building out 5G technology, “Buttigieg failed to navigate a dispute that emerged between airlines and wireless carriers surrounding the deployment of 5G towers near airports,” says McEwen. The secretary apparently didn’t understand how 5G could interfere with airliner navigation. “Thousands of flights were at risk of being canceled or rerouted daily” because the parties could not agree on a solution, says McEwen.
“Despite having nearly two years to decide the issue,” Buttigieg failed to resolve it, McEwen adds. Maybe he was just waiting on the private sector to step in, which it did. Cell carriers voluntarily located networks away from airports.
Buttigieg’s occupancy of the secretary’s chair was further low-lighted by a broken supply chain; a Federal Aviation Administration air-traffic system outage; and he “was once again nowhere to be found” when Amtrak began canceling traveler tickets due to a labor dispute. Actually, he was found vacationing on a Portuguese beach.
Buttigieg’s record as mayor isn’t any better. Critics say he demonstrated little leadership; was slow to respond to crises and once he did, tended to avoid taking any real action; failed to relieve poverty and homelessness; showed that he is ill-equipped to handle a job with the scope of the presidency; and was ineffectual in defusing racial tension.
