During an interview with NBC News aired on Tuesday’s edition of “Hallie Jackson Now,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that one reason he visited East Palestine, Ohio in the wake of the train derailment there was “all of the misinformation that came to the people of East Palestine” and that “had I known the amount of misinformation that would be directed at the people of East Palestine, we would have taken more steps to make sure that they got more accurate information sooner in the process.”
Buttigieg stated, “I do think that we missed an opportunity to communicate more clearly, with all of the misinformation that came to the people of East Palestine. And that’s one of the reasons why I broke with the norm. Normally, a Transportation Secretary does not go to an active HAZMAT site or an active crash site. But, in this case, I thought it was worth breaking that norm in order to be there to directly communicate with people on the ground about how this administration was supporting them and to communicate with the country about the safety and reforms that are needed.”
He added, “I was upholding the norm, which is that you stay out of the way of first responders and NTSB. But I do think, had I known the amount of misinformation that would be directed at the people of East Palestine, we would have taken more steps to make sure that they got more accurate information sooner in the process.”
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