Podcast host Joe Rogan blasted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over his remarks about the race of construction workers in lower income communities.
Buttigieg said too many construction crews have workers who “don’t look like” the communities they work in at a Monday panel at the National Association of Counties Conference. Rogan said the secretary displayed a lack of awareness on the effective work of construction workers during a discussion about the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
“Do you know that he gave a speech the other day about how there’s too many white people working in construction sites, where these construction sites are set up in these communities, where the people in the community could benefit from it, which shows a profound lack of understanding of skilled labor,” Rogan said. “Because if you’re talking about people that are carpenters, people that are plumbers, and people that are electricians and people that are framers, roofers, like that’s skilled labor. You have to hire people that are really good at that and if they don’t exist in that community, you have to hire them from outside that community.”
Rogan’s guest, comedian Bridget Phetasy, criticized the secretary for his delayed response in addressing the derailment, and lamented the corporate media and administration for remaining silent on the “ecological disaster” happening on the railroad. (RELATED: ‘F*cking Vote Blue’: Joe Rogan Tears Into Democrats For Branding Criticisms of ‘Lazy And Fat’ People As ‘Far-Right’)
“It was infuriating to me because we have an administration that is constantly threatening us with climate change disaster and everything we do, all of these policies need to be for climate change and the green initiative and there is an actual ecological disaster unfolding and you don’t hear a fucking word about it on CNN, any of the major mainstream medias,” she said.
She further pointed to the “overworked” union railroad workers’ grievances in East Palestine who had warned of a disaster such as the derailment occurring. The union was on the verge of casting a strike last year, according to Toward Freedom.
Rogan pointed to the repeated derailments that have occurred throughout the U.S.
“The fact that he talked about that and didn’t talk about this derailment. The derailment is a colossal failure on the part of the Transportation Department and I don’t know what caused the derailment, but there’s a lot of derailments that are occurring in the United States due to sabotage,” Rogan added.
Buttigieg addressed the crisis in a Monday Twitter thread by vowing to investigate the causes and “ensure accountability.”
“I continue to be concerned about the impacts of the Feb 3 train derailment near East Palestine, OH, and the effects on families in the ten days since their lives were upended through no fault of their own,” he said. “USDOT has been supporting the investigation led by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Our Federal Rail Administration and Pipelines and Hazardous Materials teams were onsite within hours of the initial incident and continue to be actively engaged.”
USDOT has been supporting the investigation led by The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Our Federal Rail Administration and Pipelines and Hazardous Materials teams were onsite within hours of the initial incident and continue to be actively engaged.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 14, 2023
“We will look to these investigation results & based on them, use all relevant authorities to ensure accountability and continue to support safety,” he continued.
About fifty cars were derailed and a toxic chemical spill led to massive fires. The incident prompted an evacuation of about 2,000 residents and a shelter-in-place for the rest of the community.