Sec. Pete Buttigieg speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention
As transphobic billionaire Elon Musk takes the reigns of his newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a second Trump administration, he has been confronted with something that didn’t matter much in his multi-million-dollar effort to get the former president reelected: the facts.
And this time they were delivered by out Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, no less.
Related:
Remarkably, Musk may be getting the message.
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The lesson began over the weekend when the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. — someone never tethered to the truth in his pursuit of liberal tears — reposted a social media message claiming that Buttigieg had squandered billions in federal funds on a failed electric vehicle (EV) charging program.
The electric vehicle stations are part of President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $738 billion in 2022 to address energy and climate change.
“Pete Buttigieg will leave his post as Transportation Secretary having spent $7.5 BILLION to build 8 EV charging stations. His legacy will be squandering billions on something nobody wants, while millions struggle to afford the things they need,” Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH), a self-described “America First” election denier posted.
Trump Jr. added, “Does not seem like a great return on investment… but hey he checked a woke box so it’s totally worth it. 🙄” Trump Jr.’s comment repeated oft-repeated right-wing claims that Buttigieg was only appointed to his cabinet position because he is gay.
What “woke” and the climate crisis have to do with one another only Don Jr. knows, but, y’know … liberal tears.
The outgoing Transportation Secretary didn’t let the unfounded claim and reply go unanswered.
“The tweet you quoted is false,” Buttigieg posted to the point.
That’s when Musk jumped into the conversation, just minutes later.
And so Buttigieg corrected Trump Jr. on the issue.
“To start with,” Buttigieg wrote in three rapid-fire messages, “$7.5B has not been spent, nor anything like that. That’s the entire program budget for the NEVI [National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure] program, which is to help build out a national charging network by 2030.”
“Secondly, there are chargers now operational in nine states (which does not mean 9 chargers, to be clear). These are only the first handful though. Most are to be built in the 2nd half of the decade,” he added.
“Third, in this program the chargers are built by the states, not the federal government. And while it takes time to get a novel multi-billion dollar program going across 50 states, the states are on track,” he concluded, adding a link with more facts for good measure.
What was Musk’s reaction?
While absent a “thank you,” his reply was actually reasonable.
“This is helpful to understand.”
Musk’s powers of reasoning — no one’s disputing he’s got them, with his aid in developing PayPal, Tesla and Space X to his credit — will be sorely tested in his new role as Efficiency Czar. He wants to cut $2 trillion out of $6.75 trillion in total federal spending, which is already burdened by mandatory payments on the national debt plus nondiscretionary spending like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, national defense, and discretionary programs with 538 constituents in Congress. But the DOGE program may be a pipe dream as it isn’t an official government office, can only make recommendations, and will recommend cuts that can usually only be passed by a united legislature (something the U.S. hasn’t had in years).
Add Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to the mix in her oversight role as chair of a Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee (another DOGE acronym), and Musk will be hard-pressed to find “helpful” counsel like Buttigieg’s.
His honest reply, though, was a step in the right direction.
Bonus points for the world’s richest man: Not a word in reply from Don Jr.
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