Buttigieg, Clinton downplay criticism following Ohio derailment, discuss breaking glass ceilings

The Biden administration received misplaced criticism from people who "are trying to create problems instead of solving them," Pete Buttigieg said.

By Natalia Mittelstadt

Published: March 7, 2023 11:31am

Updated: March 7, 2023 1:28pm

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg decried the criticism that the Biden administration has received over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as Hillary Clinton interviewed him at Vanderbilt University.

Clinton, Buttigieg, and former President Bill Clinton spoke at the university Friday as part of the Clinton Global Initiative University, The Tennesseean reported.

Buttigieg encouraged students to take responsibility when they will have "to solve some of the most difficult problems humanity has ever faced."

He and Clinton, a former secretary of State, discussed the "alternative narrative" regarding the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

"There was a federal response in the first few hours," Buttigieg said, adding that the Biden administration had received misplaced criticism from people who "are trying to create problems instead of solving them."

"I know a little bit about receiving criticism," Clinton said, laughing.

Buttigieg has been criticized for what some have called a slow response time to the Feb. 3 derailment, which involved several cars carrying toxic chemicals. The derailment smoldered for days, before officials siphoned off the chemicals, then ignited them to avert an explosion.

Late last month, nearly two dozen House Republicans signed a letter demanding a large number of documents from Buttigieg, including information on "when [Buttigieg] learned about the train derailment in East Palestine."

The lawmakers argued that leadership at Buttugieg's agency exhibited "apathy in the face of this emergency."

Clinton drew widespread criticism during the 2016 presidential election for using a private server to send sensitive communications while she was secretary of State under the Obama administration.

The two failed Democratic presidential candidates also reminisced on breaking glass ceilings, according to Fox News.

"When you read about your biography, your accomplishments, you're often described as a trailblazer," Clinton said to Buttigieg. "You are the first openly gay Cabinet member. You're the youngest person to ever hold the office of secretary of Transportation. You're one of the youngest people to make a serious bid for the presidency. So there's no doubt that along the way being the first often requires knocking down some barriers, some misconceptions."

Buttigieg said: "Yeah, I mean, again, I'm humbled to have a word like 'trailblazer' used when I'm sitting next to you and knowing all the cracks you put in that glass ceiling.

"But I am mindful of how things changed for me when I was able to come forward and realize that it was time to be who I was and let the consequences be what they might."

Clinton was the first woman in U.S. history to receive the nomination for president from a major political party before losing to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Buttigieg was the first openly gay presidential candidate when he ran in 2020, before dropping out of the Democratic primary race.