(Headline USA) Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg lashed out during a congressional hearing this week after being asked about President Joe Biden’s mental fitness.
Buttigieg was testifying before the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday to discuss infrastructure, electric vehicles and rising energy costs when Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, asked whether he believed Biden was up to the task of dealing with the crisis.
Nehls referenced several recent events, including a viral video of Biden wandering around onstage and shaking hands with thin air, as well as mainstream-media articles questioning whether Biden is too old to run for re-election.
“We now see the mainstream media questioning President Biden’s mental state, and for good reason. Sadly, he shakes hands with ghosts and imaginary people, and he falls off bicycles,” he said.
“Have you spoken to Cabinet members about implementing the 25th Amendment on President Biden?” Nehls asked Buttigieg.
Buttigieg snapped back: “First of all, I’m glad to have a president who can ride a bicycle, and I will look beyond the insulting nature of that question and make clear to you that the president of the United States…”
Nehls interrupted to ask Buttigieg the question again.
“Of course not,” Buttigieg said.
Biden’s mental fitness has become a point of concern among both Republicans and Democrats, with a growing number of White House aides anonymously acknowledging that Biden’s age renders him incapable of working a full day without a nap or break.
Republicans previously urged Biden’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment after the catastrophic military withdrawal from Afghanistan, echoing Democrats’ calls to use it against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump.
Nehls wasn’t the only congressman to challenge Buttigieg during his testimony.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. also called him out on a more substantive point, noting that the push for electric vehicles could lead to an increase in blackouts and brownouts, particularly during months when residents rely on air-conditioning to cool their homes.
“The numbers and the rate of adoption has been developed using political science, not engineering,” Massie said, according to Red Voice Media. They’re impractical, and if we blindly follow these goals that Biden has set out, it will cause pain and suffering for the middle class.”
