Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appearing on Fox News Photo: X video screenshot
Out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has refuted disinformation and detailed his department’s efforts amid the two back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, that have recently slammed southeastern states.
Speaking with MSNBC anchorwoman Nicolle Wallace on Dateline White House, Buttigieg said hundreds of personnel from the Department of Transportation are in the affected states, helping ensure that highway interstate evacuation routes remain clear and that camera drones survey the damage to ensure that assistance reaches the most devastated areas first.
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Addressing widespread disinformation being spread by former President Donald Trump and his allies, Buttigieg said, “We’ve never seen anything like we have at this level.”
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“It is so important right now to turn to trusted sources of information,” he added, “and not be listening to some guy on the internet because it can make a life or death difference in the context of a disaster.”
During the conversation, Buttigieg mentioned how he recently spoke with Elon Musk, the transphobic billionaire owner of X, who alleged that the government shut down the airspace over the disaster zone and prevented private Starlink flights from delivering aid and supplies.
Buttigieg responded directly to Musk on X, writing, “No one is shutting down the airspace and FAA doesn’t block legitimate rescue and recovery flights. If you’re encountering a problem give me a call.”
Musk sent a series of replies to Buttigieg claiming that there were “hundreds of reports” of blocked flights and that a helicopter was “trying to land to deliver critical supplies.” He then implied he did speak on the phone to Buttigieg, thanking him for the call. In a follow-up, he said the support flights were “now underway.”
“It was a good example of the difference between human beings talking to each other in order to solve a problem versus everybody just kind of being behind their Twitter accounts saying things that aren’t verified,” Buttigieg told Wallace.
“These falsehoods can make a life or death difference,” he said. “It’s never been more important, especially when you have life and death decisions depending on people understanding the information that they’re getting from real, credible sources.”
“A lot of us have views about that member of Congress,” Buttigieg said, “but there are people out there who, because that’s a member of Congress, will believe that sort of thing.”
“There’s a level of responsibility that comes with having a platform,” he added. “Anybody who has a platform has a responsibility to use it to make sure people get good information and to tell the truth.”
Republicans in Florida and other hurricane-afflicted states have criticized former President Donald Trump and his right-wing allies for deliberately spreading misinformation about the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Though Republican elected officials in affected states have praised the Biden administration for its quick response to the disasters, Trump has falsely accused the federal government of abandoning the public, of only offering victims a mere $750 in aid and of using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to house immigrants. None of these claims are true, and they have resulted in harassment of FEMA workers, immigrants and public officials in affected areas.
