Pete Buttigieg

Did the Biden administration spend $3 billion to procure just 93 electric mail trucks? No, that's not true: A Postal Service spokesperson told Lead Stories that Congress approved $3 billion to purchase 66,000 electric postal delivery vehicles, many of them arriving by 2028. According to USPS records, as of December 13, 2024, 24 electric vehicles had been delivered with another…

Has the Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg spent $7.5 billion on only eight EV charging stations? No, that's not true: Much of the money set aside for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program has yet to be spent as states apply for grants to fund EV charging projects. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 214 charging ports have…

Did Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg make remarks about how racism went into design choices after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed in Baltimore on March 26, 2024? No, that's not true: The video clip in a social media post dates back to a November 9, 2021, White House daily briefing. Buttigieg's 2021 remarks were a response to a direct question…

Did U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg pose for a photo wearing a breastfeeding device? No, that's not true: This image seen in the top portion of this meme has been digitally altered using photo-editing tools. The actual person's face, modeled in a blog for mothers, was replaced with a professional headshot of Buttigieg. The image appeared in a meme…

Did Pete Buttigieg stage a short bike ride for a photo op? No, that's not true: The claim was made without proof, based on a short video clip that did not document his whole trip. The transportation secretary biked both to and from a Cabinet meeting at the White House, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Transportation (DOT).…

Did Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders say he wants to raise taxes to 52 percent on anybody making over $29,000 a year during this week's fiery Democratic debate in Nevada? No, that's not true: it is fake news being spread over social media, and the avowed Democratic socialist has only said he wants a 52 percent tax on income over…

Does data from Windy.com show a massive release of sulfur dioxide gas near Wuhan, China, which is commonly associated with the burning of organic matters? No, that's not true: The images are not satellite measurements. A member of the NASA sulfur dioxide (SO2) team told Lead Stories that their satellite retrievals did not show significantly enhanced SO2 measurements over the…

Do the policies of Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg support lenient sentences for drug traffickers that would lead to them avoiding serving time for their crimes? No, that's not true: Buttigieg has said he wants to decriminalize prison time for possession of illicit drugs to keep people struggling with addiction out of prison and get them into rehab. He never…

Does a photo show Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg posing in a leather bodysuit with two other men? No, that's not true: The picture has been doctored using photo-editing tools. The real person has been swapped out with the head of the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The image originated from a meme (archived here) published by John Wirtanen…

Did members of the media falsify an FBI intelligence bulletin that warned conspiracy theories are a new domestic terrorism threat? No, that's not true: The FBI has commented to Lead Stories about the document, and multiple members of the media, including The New York Times, NBC News, and The Hill, have all reported on its existence. The claim originated from…