Pete Buttigieg Snaps Photo of Daily Caller Journo Asking About East Palestine: ‘I’m Just Doing My Job, Sir’
Screenshots via Twitter
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg snapped a photograph of a Daily Caller journalist after he was questioned on the street about the train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.
“I asked Secretary Buttigieg about the crisis in East Palestine and I guess he didn’t like that so he took a pic of me. I’m just doing my job, sir,” reporter Jennie Taer tweeted.
In the video posted with the message, Taer caught up with Buttigieg while he is walking down a street with his husband, Chasten Buttigieg. She identified herself as a reporter with the Daily Caller News Foundation before jumping into questions.
“What do you have to say to the folks in Ohio, East Palestine, who are suffering right now?” Taer asked.
“I’d refer you to about a dozen interviews I’ve given today and if you’d like to arrange a conversation, make sure to reach out to our press office,” Buttigieg replied.
The former mayor continued to say he did not want to have the conversation on the street.
“Right now I’m taking some personal time and I’m walking down the street,” he said.
Buttigieg previously announced he will be visiting East Palestine where residents have growing concerns about toxic spill from the train derailment, but he would not specify when that trip would be in Taer’s video.
Buttigieg oddly ended the conversation by asking to take a photo of the journalist questioning him.
“Can I get a photo of you?” he asked, to which Taer said yes.
In an interview with Nexstar’s Reshad Hudson, Buttigieg admitted he could have addressed to the East Palestine situation sooner.
“I do think that it’s important to speak out about that and I could have spoken out sooner and I’m making sure that we are focused on the actions that are gonna make a difference,” he said.
