Pete Buttigieg Honors ‘Indigenous People’s Day’ While Country at Transportation Standstill

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took time to celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” traditionally known as Columbus Day, while the country remains at a standstill with supply chain issues, as ports are backed up, shipping companies struggle to find truck drivers, and certain airlines cancel hundreds of flights, partially due to staffing shortages.

“This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, @USDOT honors the history, culture, and achievements of Native Americans and recognizes our role in ensuring Indigenous people have ready access to safe, reliable transportation services,” Buttigieg said, triggering a wave of backlash from social media users who criticized him for seemingly ignoring the mounting transportation issues occurring across the country:

This Indigenous Peoples' Day, @USDOT honors the history, culture, and achievements of Native Americans and recognizes our role in ensuring Indigenous people have ready access to safe, reliable transportation services.

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) October 11, 2021

“Some of the ships backed up right now left port before Columbus did, so may want to get to work on that too,” one Twitter user said.

“You need to address the port issues ASAP!” another said.

“Yes, let’s not focus on the ports being backlogged. Maybe Joe should start a new cabinet position and let that person take care of transportation issues,” one quipped.

Buttigieg’s remark comes as the country remains at a standstill as supply chain issues mount and ports remain backed up “due to a variety of factors, including rising import demand, insufficient trucking, and workers’ reluctance to do night shifts,” as Breitbart News reported.

"Obviously it's an incredibly complicated situation,” @SecretaryPete said on Morning Joe on Friday about the ports problems.

Noted his department was taking it seriously and “held roundtables bringing together everyone connected with the ports."

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) October 11, 2021

Meanwhile, President Biden kicked off the day by releasing a statement on “National Coming Out Day,” expressing his commitment to the “LGBTQ+ community.”