Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg talks to the media during his visit to the Brightline station in West Palm Beach, Florida on October 17, 2023. Photo: GREG LOVETT/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK
Out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been making the rounds with the press as of late and continues to eviscerate those who question President Biden’s success in his first term.
While appearing on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, the host played a clip from Sen. Katie Britt’s (R-AL) State of the Union rebuttal – which has been widely mocked – in which she asks, “are you better off now than you were three years ago?”
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“You know, majority of Americans are saying the answer to that is no,” Stephanopoulos told Buttigieg, who needed no time to think of a clear and concise response.
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“Yeah, three or four years ago you couldn’t get toilet paper,” he reminded viewers.”
“Three or four years ago we were in the middle of a pandemic that killed about a million people.”
Buttigieg then listed some of Biden’s accomplishments since he assumed the presidency that he believes have made life significantly better than it was three years ago.
“When we took office, just to take a couple examples from the transportation sector, there had been four straight years of promises about an infrastructure build that never came. Of course, President Biden delivered that in his first year and is contributing to manufacturing jobs and construction jobs around the country.”
“Aviation right now, one of our biggest challenges in making sure airplanes can keep up with the demand. Three years ago the big question was whether America’s airlines were going to go out of business because of the condition that the economy was in when President Biden inherited it.”
He went on to speak directly to Britt’s comments in the State of the Union rebuttal, during which she stated, “One thing was clear: President Biden just doesn’t get it. He’s out of touch.”
Buttigieg said her speech did not reflect the reality of Biden’s address.
“Now, I know those response addresses have to be written before the State of the Union is actually delivered,” he said, “and I don’t think they usually change them based on what actually happens during the address, but anybody who watched that address saw not just in the substance but in the delivery of President Biden’s remarks, a leader who is in command, showing strength and clarity of vision.”
