Donald Trump attacked former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg twice in the past day, blaming him for the problems the current administration is facing when it comes to air safety and also mocking Buttigieg for being married to a man.
“When they took over, Buddha-dedge,” Trump said, mispronouncing Buttigieg’s name, “who has no clue.”
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“You know, he drives to work in his bicycle with his, with his, in all fairness, with his husband on the back, which is a nice loving relationship,” Trump said sarcastically. “But he didn’t have a clue. This guy… didn’t have a clue.”
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Trump has publicly opposed marriage rights for same-sex couples but has not made his opposition central to his campaign platforms.
Trump says Pete Buttigieg "has no clue. You know, he drives to work on his bicycle with his, in all fairness, with his husband on the back."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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Buttigieg never rode a tandem bicycle to work with his husband, Chasten, and a Google image search didn’t turn up any pictures of the couple riding a tandem bicycle to any destination. It’s likely Trump conjured the image to mock Buttigieg’s sexuality.
Trump had more to say about Buttigieg on his personal social media platform, Truth Social.
“Air Traffic problems caused by the incompetent Biden Administration, as headed by, in this case, a total novice and political hack, Pete B. I WILL FIX IT!!!” he wrote.
The statements come after months of his administration firing aviation safety officials, including, potentially, air traffic controllers. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency also tried to fire air traffic controllers this year. This followed years of increasing difficulty staffing these positions, along with the use of dated technology.
Last week, an anonymous air traffic controller in Newark issued a warning to travelers telling them to avoid Newark Liberty International Airport: “Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.” They said that the airport is “not safe” after over 20 percent of air traffic controllers walked off the job, and said the airport has had communications issues for the past year.
This past weekend, the situation at Newark turned even more dangerous when air traffic controllers in Philadelphia lost contact for around 30 seconds, which officials attributed to aging equipment.
In April 2024, Buttigieg asked Congress for more funding to hire air traffic controllers. Republicans controlled the House and did not authorize that funding increase.
Buttigieg said on MSNBC earlier this week that he tried to get the funding to update equipment.
“It’s obviously a real concern, a major concern,” he told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki. “When you become Secretary of Transportation, you know that your most important priority is safety. I understood that, my predecessors understood that, and my successor says that he understands that.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also blamed Buttigieg for the issues facing air travel during Trump’s second term.
“Celebrating Transit Equity Day. Chairing the Equity Council. Stopping racist roads. Building bike paths. Funding studies on gender non-conforming people,” Duffy wrote on X. “This is the c**p Pete Buttigieg focused on instead of fixing the problems with Newark and our entire air traffic control system.”
“Buttigieg and Biden didn’t lift a finger to fix our air traffic control system.”
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