Pete Buttigieg Refuses To Apologize To Tucker Carlson: ‘I’m not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson’
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg refused to apologize to Tucker Carlson today before he admitted the supply chain chaos will last into next year. Pete was under fire from Tucker and others because he has been on paid leave during this critical transportation emergency.
Pete said: “As you might imagine, we’re bottle-feeding and doing it at all hours of the day and night. And I’m not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins.
“The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work. It’s important work, and it’s work that every American ought to be able to do when they welcome a new child into their family. I campaigned on that.”
Buttigieg said earlier: “What is really strange is that, you know, this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro-family. What we have right now is an administration that’s actually pro-family.”
From CNN:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg predicted on Sunday that supply chain issues facing the US will continue into 2022, but stressed that Congress potentially passing President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal is the best way to help alleviate those problems.
“Certainly a lot of the challenges that we’ve been experiencing this year will continue into next year. But there are both short-term and long-term steps that we can take to do something about it,” Buttigieg told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
“Look, part of what’s happening isn’t just the supply side, it’s the demand side. Demand is off the charts,” he added.
“This is one more example of why we need to pass the infrastructure bill.
There are $17 billion in the President’s infrastructure plan for ports alone and we need to deal with these long-term issues that have made us vulnerable to these kinds of bottlenecks when there are demand fluctuations, shocks and disruptions like the ones that have been caused by the pandemic.”
The comments from the secretary come as Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill makes its way through Congress, where it has already passed the Senate but is now stalled in the House.
The legislation includes money for roads, bridges and public transportation, and would also provide funds to reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports.
Asked by Tapper if he was frustrated that House progressives’ demands to not vote on the physical infrastructure bill until the social infrastructure bill was also ready for a vote, Buttigieg said both pieces of legislation are needed to address the current issues stemming from the pandemic, including inflation.
“One thing that has not been talked about enough is (Moody’s) finding about how the overall “Build Back Better” vision is designed to reduce inflationary pressures.
So if you care about inflation, you ought to care about not just the supply chain issues, not just the infrastructure things I work on, but also the provisions in “Build Back Better” like paid family leave, like making it easier to afford childcare, like community college, that are going to give us a stronger labor force and help us deal with that major constraint on economic growth,” he said.