Pete Buttigieg ridiculed for Joe Biden’s $7.5 billion ‘massive failure’

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was asked Sunday about the low number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations the Biden administration has deployed across the country over the past three years, with his response drawing criticism and ridicule among social media users.

President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure law in November 2021, allocating $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging. Of that amount, $5 billion is going toward building a network of charging stations along major highways, called the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.

During his appearance on CBS News Face the nation On Sunday, host Margaret Brennan asked Buttigieg: “The Federal Highway Administration says only seven or eight charging stations were produced with a $7.5 billion investment that taxpayers made in 2021. Why is this not doesn’t it happen more quickly?

Buttigieg responded: “So the president’s goal is to have half a million chargers by the end of this decade. Now, to make a charger, you don’t just stick a small device into the ground. It is also a new category of federal investment. But we’ve worked with each of the 50 states, each of them receives a formula of dollars to do this work. »

He then reiterated Biden’s electric vehicle goal: “Again, by 2030, 500,000 chargers. And the very first handful of chargers are already being physically built. But again, it “This is the very first stage of construction to come.”

News week contacted the Department of Transportation’s director of public affairs for comment via email on Sunday.

Following Buttigieg’s comments, he was mocked on Sunday on X, formerly Twitter.

Simon Ateba, chief White House correspondent for Today News Africa in Washington, wrote in an article year to achieve the goal. »

RNC Research, an charging (for electric vehicles) was produced thanks to the $7.5 BILLION investment that taxpayers made in 2021.'”

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Several other X users reposted the video with their own captions, including freelance journalist Nick Sortor, who wrote: “Guarantee this doesn’t cost Tesla $1 billion each. Why does Pete still have a job ?”

Steve Guest, former communications advisor to Senator Ted Cruz, posted on despite the Biden admin spending $7.5 BILLION on construction chargers.”