Let me ask: have you ever taken a job and then put on paid leave 8 months in? Perhaps if you were hurt on the job, but, no, because you chose to do do something? Usually, we think it’s a good thing when government workers take long breaks, because that’s less time for them to mess up the lives of citizens. Not when there’s a big supply chain issue and it involves transportation
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Paid Leave Since Mid-August amid Supply Crisis
As cargo ships congested at U.S. ports, creating an unprecedented supply-chain crisis, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was on paid leave to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies.
After weeks of people questioning Buttigieg’s whereabouts as crisis after crisis mounted, Politico’s West Wing Playbook confirmed on Thursday that the transportation secretary was “lying low.â€
“They didn’t previously announce it, but Buttigieg’s office told West Wing Playbook that the secretary has actually been on paid leave since mid-August to spend time with his husband, Chasten, and their two newborn babies,â€Â Playbook reported.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation confirmed that Buttigieg was “mostly offline†throughout this tumultuous time period.
“Pete’s been a key member of the team since Day One, and has been critical as we shepherd the President’s agenda across the finish line,†an official told Politico. “We’re overjoyed for him and Chasten, and believe every American should have access to paid family leave.â€
Paid leave for a new job that has lasted for two months, when he really should be doing his job. Why couldn’t they have done this before the election? Before starting the job after Biden took office?
This past Wednesday, Buttigieg reportedly attended a “high-profile meeting†with President Joe Biden to discuss the ongoing supply chain crisis that will likely result in empty shelves at major and small retail outlets this holiday season – a prospect resulting in the hashtag #EmptyShelvesJoe trending on Twitter Thursday.
FLASHBACK: Biden blamed food shortages under Trump in 2020 on ‘lack of leadership’
President Joe Biden is being slammed on social media for clips circulating online from the 2020 campaign trail in which he blamed food shortages on failed leadership from then-President Donald Trump.
“We don’t have a food shortage problem — we have a leadership problem,” then-candidate Biden said in May of 2020 during a virtual town hall while blaming Trump for food shortages during the coronavirus lockdowns.
“We have plenty of food,” Biden added. “It’s being plowed under. You’ve got– you’re euthanizing cattle and pigs. They’re out there making sure that they’re pouring thousands of gallons of milk into the ground. It’s not a food shortage. It’s a lack of leadership– a lack of leadership.”
We don't have a food shortage problem — we have a leadership problem. pic.twitter.com/eFpJ8PGHGM
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 21, 2020
They couldn’t get a lot of goods to market because of state lockdowns, not federal government lockdowns. Primarily in Democrat states. But, we should start with blaming China for all this. It’s what you do to respond. What’s Joe doing? He walked away from questions again yesterday on the subject.
Read: Good News: Mayor Pete, Also Known As Sec Of Transportation, Has Been On Paid Leave Since August »