Buttigieg must have finally wrapped up his “paternity leave” or “chest feeding” or whatever it was he was doing as US supply chains fell apart last fall, as now he’s back to work, complaining that, as head of the Department of Transportation, it’s not his fault that the baby formula shortage has fallen apart.
Just like all the other great leaders of history, he’s refusing to take responsibility or even admit that a crisis is a crisis, but is instead attacking those who are blaming the government. Watch that sad excuse here:
As you can hear, Buttigieg, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation”, was asked a reasonably good question by Margaret Brennan, who pointed out that the whisteblower had given the government lots of warning but it still took awhile and there was still a crisis, saying:
Well, and this is going to be an issue Congress takes up this week. I know the President said more action is coming, but this has been ongoing for months. There are supply chain issues already. Then you have the issue with this one plant, Abbott, whistleblower in September, February the recall. It’s May. Why has it taken so long and why did the president on Friday seem to say that it was new information to him? He said, if we’d been better mind readers, I guess we could have done something earlier.
Buttigieg, instead of giving an even slightly satisfactory response, instead highlighted how the administration is making it easier for welfare recipients to access the scarce formula, sayingL
Well, look, the administration acted from day one after the recall. Taking steps like creating more flexibility for the WIC program to help rebalance the availability of formula in the States. There are more actions that are underway, including looking at imports. But fundamentally, we are here because a company was not able to guarantee that its plant was safe. And that plant has shut down.
Apparently the welfare recipients come next in the line of importance after illegal immigrants, with paying parents that are American citizens coming last.
Then, rather than letting Brennan ask another question, he freaked out at the suggestion that the issue was caused by the government, placing the blame squarely on industry, saying:
As regulators, yes. But let’s be very clear. This is a capitalist country. The government does not make baby formula, nor should it. Companies make formula. And one of those companies, a company which, by the way, seems to have 40% market share, messed up and is unable to confirm that a plant, a major plant, is safe and free of contamination.
So the most important thing to do right now, of course, is to get that plant in Michigan up and running safely. And that’s the work that’s going on between the company and the FDA. It’s got to be safe and it’s got to be up and running as soon as possible. But this is the difference between a supply chain problem, in other words, a problem about moving goods around, and a supply problem which has to do with whether they’re being produced in the first place.
Now, the administration’s also been working with other companies to try to surge their production. That’s led to an increase in production, which is helping to compensate. But at the end of the day, this plant needs to come back online safely.
Sure, the company is to blame. But so are the Feds for wasting months of lead time and not doing anything to prepare for the crisis caused when the FDA demanded a massive recall. Of course shortages would result, why was that not planned for?
Buttigieg then tried to dodge responsibility a bit later in the interview too. That came when Brennan hit him on the supply chain disaster that led to a skyrocketing price of formula, saying:
And we’ll have more on that later in the show. But because I know you’re not the FDA commissioner, let me talk to you about the things you are involved more in, which is supply chain procurement. How is the administration making sure that those essential ingredients that are actually required for something like formula are actually available?
It wasn’t even a hostile question, despite the obvious opportunity for it to be. Yet still Buttigieg was unable to answer, responding by saying:
So a shortage of ingredients is not what led to the shutdown of the facility–
Brennan cut him off, educating viewers on the truth regarding the situation by saying:
No, it is a factor that has led to price. Inflation is one of the factors among many that has been blamed for months of problems with baby formula even before the recall in February.
Buttigieg the incompetent DOT Secretary had no answer, of course.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics
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