Secretary Pete Buttigieg/Chaya Raichik Photo: GREG LOVETT/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK//Screenshot
After a 95,000-ton cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore yesterday, many on the right decided to blame out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, often attacking him for being gay, despite how he had nothing to do with the disaster.
So anti-LGBTQ+ hate influencer Chaya Raichik – who goes by LibsofTikTok online – had to join in.
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“Guys don’t worry,” she wrote. “Mayor Pete is on his way to Baltimore and will get to the bottom of the bridge collapse!”
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She then posted a picture of Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, on a swing together, looking happy.
It’s unclear what exactly the picture has to do with the bridge, but since it’s Raichik, many assumed that she was just saying that he’s gay and, therefore, can’t actually address the disaster.
I appreciate it when you just make crystal clear what a pig you are
Raichik became internet-famous by posting videos of LGBTQ+ people and allies and calling them “groomers” if they mentioned being in the vicinity of children. She completely opposes LGBTQ+ equality and even celebrated her attacks on hospitals and schools resulting in bomb threats, saying that it’s a “huge achievement” for law enforcement officials and media outlets to accuse her of inspiring the attacks.
But while Raichik was outraged that the Buttigieges shared a picture online showing their love for each other, Pete Buttigieg was traveling to Baltimore and assuring the city that the federal government would help rebuild the bridge.
At 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, a cargo ship leaving the port of Baltimore and headed for Sri Lanka hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge following a power issue on board. Footage shows the ship hitting a column supporting the bridge, causing it to collapse within seconds as the ship bursts into flames.
But as the investigation into the disaster continues, Buttigieg said that anyone found responsible “will be held accountable.”
“What we know is that we got to tear down every obstacle, physical, financial, and administrative, that means using all the tools that we have as a department, and very likely working with Congress as well” to rebuild the bridge,” he said on CNN. “That was the commitment that the president made, and that I made yesterday with Gov. Wes Moore, for we were with him and his leadership team.”
