Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is not hesitant to discuss his feelings toward the job performance of Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The rationale for the negative feedback concerning Secretary Buttigieg includes the recent failures of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the train derailments in South Carolina, Texas, and most notably in East Palestine, Ohio, and his habits of taking more expensive flights on the taxpayer dime.
In February, The Floridian covered the public sparring round between the two former Presidential candidate heavyweights in which Buttigieg alleged that Sen. Rubio was a supporter of reducing “visual track inspections” and that his opinions concerning the railroad were “obviously drafted by railroad lobbyists.”
The facts don't lie. The 2021 letter you signed was obviously drafted by railroad industry lobbyists.
It supports waivers that would reduce visual track inspections.
Now: will you vote to help us toughen rail safety accountability and fines, or not? https://t.co/o5MGvbEZbA
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 21, 2023
“The facts don't lie. The 2021 letter you signed was obviously drafted by railroad industry lobbyists. It supports waivers that would reduce visual track inspections. Now: will you vote to help us toughen rail safety accountability and fines, or not?” said Buttigieg.
However, Politifact has brought out their “Truth-O-Meter” to fact check Buttigieg’s statement addressing Sen. Rubio’s signage of the 2021 letter and whether he supports reducing visual track inspections.
The fact-checker rated Buttigieg’s statement as “mostly false.”
In their article explaining why they gave the statement a mostly false rating, Madison Czopek writes that, “in recent years, the Federal Railroad Administration has permitted some companies that operate freight railroads to participate in test programs using the automated track inspection technology. Those programs allowed for more automated track inspections and fewer visual inspections.”
Czopek would go on to mention that “Buttigieg’s claim leaves out important information” and that “the letter did not explicitly advocate for fewer visual track inspections.”
Rubio himself highlighted Politifact’s rating, tweeting that “Even left wing fact checker at politifact say @secretarypete is a liar.”
Even left wing fact checker at politifact say @SecretaryPete is a liar https://t.co/EHYBM4Iwg4
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 6, 2023
If Politifact is the referee, then this round of the heavyweight bout goes to Rubio.
