Pete Buttigieg has been anointed by the liberal establishment as a rising star.
But not everyone on the left feels that way.
And Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon slammed Mayor Pete for one huge failure.
Pete Buttigieg, who somehow got vaulted to a national political figure while serving as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was given the position of Secretary of Transportation for helping Joe Biden get elected in 2020.
Buttigieg, a so-called moderate, cleared the field for Biden by abruptly dropping out of the Democratic primary after Biden won South Carolina.
With the moderate lane open, far-left candidate Bernie Sanders’ path to victory was undercut.
Buttigieg’s reward was head of Transportation, and he’s been terrible at his job.
His most notable moments in the position are going on paternity leave during a massive supply chain crisis, and doing nothing to address the commercial airline delays.
Now Sanders and the Bernie Bros are exacting their revenge on Mayor Pete.
Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon, who refused to support Hillary Clinton in 2016 after Sanders was cheated out of the Democratic nomination by the DNC, took a dig at Buttigieg in light of widespread flight cancellations from Southwest Airlines.
Sarandon tweeted, “I guess being smart doesn’t necessarily make you practical.”
I guess being smart doesn’t necessarily make you practical. https://t.co/b1Rh8FsM2i
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) December 29, 2022
Sarandon wasn’t the only leftist to take down Buttigieg.
Former Sanders surrogate Nina Turner tweeted, “What’s happening with the railroads, airlines & the supply chain is a result of a small city mayor being made the Secretary of Transportation as a means to pad his resume for President. Secretary Buttigeig is a prime example of failing up.”
What’s happening with the railroads, airlines & the supply chain is a result of a small city mayor being made the Secretary of Transportation as a means to pad his resume for President.
Secretary Buttigeig is a prime example of failing up.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) December 28, 2022
Sarandon and Turner both linked to an article from The Lever reporting that “[b]efore the debacle, attorneys general from both parties were sounding alarms about regulators’ lax oversight of the airline industry, imploring them and congressional lawmakers to crack down. The warnings came just before Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared on national television insisting travel would improve by the holidays, and before Southwest executives — flush with cash from a government bailout — announced new dividend payouts to shareholders, while paying themselves millions of dollars.”
Sanders himself also dogpiled on Buttigieg.
He wrote on Twitter, “Southwest’s flight delays & cancellations are beyond unacceptable. This is a company that got a $7 billion taxpayer bailout & will be handing out $428 million in dividends to their wealthy shareholders. [U.S. Department of Transportation] must hold Southwest’s CEO accountable for his greed and incompetence.”
Buttigieg ticked off the left flank of the Democratic Party, and he is paying the price.
His failure in the job shouldn’t come as a surprise considering his preparation for the job was his self-described love of airports.
Mayor Pete was attempting to build his résumé, but he might have done the opposite.
