Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is being roasted over a report that shows he traveled on a military plane to a sporting event in Europe last spring with his husband Chasten Buttigieg.
According to a calendar obtained by Americans for Public Trust, Buttigieg left Joint Base Andrews on April 15 via "MilAir Flight" to attend the fifth Invictus Games in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and returned two days later on a military aircraft.
Photos and media reports confirmed that his husband, Chasten, traveled with him.
Prior to the event, President Joe Biden announced that Buttigieg would lead an official delegation of lawmakers and administration officials to the sporting event that was established by the U.K.'s Prince Harry in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and servicewomen.
The transportation secretary has been called a hypocrite for flying on government private jets on at least 18 occasions since beginning his tenure, despite advocating for climate change policies and carbon emission reductions.
Critics on Twitter denounced Buttigieg for his military flights and called to mind the operational meltdown at Southwest Airlines that left thousands of travelers stranded in airports over the holidays.
"While families' holiday travel plans were upended by his department's failures, Buttigieg has used their tax dollars to avoid problems he created," APT tweeted.
Summarizing the "wild story," Republican communicator Matt Whitlock wrote, “[W]hile commercial air travel has been a disaster for you: Mayor Pete has taken 18 private jet flights. He took Chasten on a military plane to attend a sporting event in Europe with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Tom Price resigned for much less.”
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., responded to APT's tweet, saying, "We can't look into things like this until we have a Speaker," referring to the ongoing election for speaker of the House.
American Majority founder and CEO Ned Ryun said, "Little Pete is the poster boy for an arrogant and detached idiocracy."
Multiple crises have unfolded under Buttigieg's leadership as transportation secretary. Over the Christmas weekend, as holiday travel hit its peak, Southwest Airlines canceled approximately 15,000 flights, ruining many travelers' holiday plans and causing many people to miss work engagements, sporting events and weddings.
Chasten Buttigieg came to his husband's defense in response to bipartisan criticism for failing to prevent the disaster.
Pete Buttigieg also caught flak for taking a month of paternity leave last year as the nation dealt with supply chain shortages and for vacationing in Europe as railroad unions worked to avert a crippling strike.
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