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“The thing that I think has taken a lot of Americans aback about the speaker is that he holds these views and is not some random member of the House. He’s the speaker of the House. He’s the leader of the House,” Buttigieg said.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg got candid in a recent discussion at the University of Richmond about infrastructure and the new speaker of the House.
The sold-out event was facilitated by Roben Farzad, a journalist-in-residence at the Univeristy of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, as part of the weekly NPR member-station Radio IQ showFull Disclosure. The conversation touched on topics ranging from airline passenger rights to the future of transportation infrastructure in America.
Buttigieg emphasized the importance of passenger protection when it comes to air travel.
“It’s one of the reasons why passenger protection has been such a big focus since I got here, and I’m really proud of what we’ve done,” Buttigieg said.
Related: Watch Pete Buttigieg Explain the GOP’s New Anti-LGBTQ+ Culture Wars
Discussing the airline industry’s challenges, Buttigieg acknowledged the need for robust regulation to ensure fair treatment of passengers. He detailed efforts to enhance airline transparency and accountability, particularly in flight cancellations and delays.
Buttigieg noted that on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 2.9 million people took flights, and the flight cancellation rate was “less than one-half of one percent.”
The conversation also veered toward high-speed rail in the United States. Buttigieg, drawing comparisons with foreign rail systems, expressed his vision for an improved passenger rail network in the U.S. “I was in Japan for the G7 transportation ministerial...sitting as a passenger on the bullet train, there is an incredible experience,” he said.
Related: Pete Buttigieg Slams Speaker Mike Johnson’s Homophobic Views
“Sitting up front — they gave me a chance to go up into the cabinet front where the operator [was] — that was a spiritual experience,” he said, underlining the potential for advancements in American rail systems.
Buttigieg also explained the vital role of infrastructure investment in enhancing democratic systems.
“I believe that [the lack of investment] has not only cost us in terms of the degradation of our physical infrastructure, I think it’s actually eroded something important in our democracy,” he said.
The transportation secretary addressed common concerns like range anxiety and developing a robust charging infrastructure. Buttigieg stressed the importance of bridging the gap between the range people think they need and what they require.
In a more personal segment, Buttigieg reflected on his journey from a high school student writing an essay on Bernie Sanders to competing against him on the presidential campaign trail. He shared intimate details about his military service and the profound impact it had on his life choices, particularly his decision to come out publicly.
Related: Pete Buttigieg Explains the Difference Between Climate Change and Seasons to Republican Lawmaker
The session concluded with Buttigieg answering questions on various topics, including potential future career plans. He remained open-ended about his ambitions, focusing instead on his current role and responsibilities as secretary of transportation.
The event was briefly disrupted when a protester began yelling about “Petrol Pete.” The individual, identified as Johnathan H. Williams, 27, of Richmond, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct by the University of Richmond Police Department, according to Cynthia Price, associate vice president for communications and media relations at the university. Price confirmed to The Advocate that Williams is not a student at the University of Richmond.
This incident followed a similar disruption the previous day at Michigan State University, where student climate activists from Climate Defiance protested Buttigieg’s speech, leading to one arrest, according to CBS News. The activists chanted “Stop Petrol Pete!” and rushed the stage, expressing opposition to the Department of Transportation’s approval of a seaport oil terminal in Texas. Buttigieg recognized the situation and said that engaging in debate in a venue not designed for such an exchange was difficult.
In a striking moment of the conversation, Buttigieg addressed concerns about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s widely known homophobic views.
“It’s not great,” he said. “Washington is already a town where there are lots of wonderful people, but there are also the kind of people who will ask you about your kids over breakfast and then go to the floor of the House and vote against your right to be married.
Regarding the implications of Johnson’s leadership, Buttigieg pointed out, “This is not the model Congress of a high school organization. This is the actual Congress that makes actual laws that all of us have to live by.”
Related: Pete Buttigieg Has to Keep Explaining to Republicans That Seasons Aren’t Climate Change
“The thing that I think has taken a lot of Americans aback about the speaker is that he holds these views and is not some random member of the House. He’s the speaker of the House. He’s the leader of the House.”
He expressed dismay at the thought of such views persisting in contemporary politics, particularly at such high levels of government.
He continued, “And it is led by somebody who in 2023 still doesn’t think that somebody like me ought to be able to be married. By the way, from what I can tell, also doesn’t think straight people should be able to get divorced [or] access to birth control. I mean, people can have whatever personal or religious beliefs they have, but this was set up to be a country where nobody has to live based on some other guy’s interpretation of his own religion."
According to Gallup, 71 percent of Americans support marriage equality.
Johnson is known for his conservative views, particularly regarding LGBTQ+ rights. He has advocated for revisiting critical Supreme Court decisions related to gay rights and contraception. Legal experts see his support for such reversals as highly unconventional. Throughout his career as a lawmaker and attorney, Johnson has taken a hardline conservative approach, promoting traditional Christian values in public policy. He has expressed support for criminalizing gay sex and opposition to marriage equality, viewing homosexuality as “inherently unnatural” and harmful.
Buttigieg expressed concern over Johnson’s voting record and the record of House Republicans who “would undermine the expansion of air traffic control and the ability to modernize ATC technology and undercut the funding that we’re doing for core infrastructure development and reduce the funding for programs we’re using to make freight railroad lines safer.”
He added, “So I wish that [Speaker Johnson] could have a little more focus on building up and improving our transportation systems and a little less focus on other people’s personal lives.”
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