This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is now going to war with President Donald Trump, saying the commander in chief "just made a bunch of sh** up about air-traffic control" concerning travel issues amid the government shutdown.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Trump issued a scathing warning Monday to some air-traffic controllers, while praising others.
"All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!!" Trump exclaimed in a lengthy message on Truth Social. "Anyone who doesn't will be substantially 'docked.'"
"For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn't take ANY TIME OFF for the 'Democrat Shutdown Hoax,' I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country.
"For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU. You didn't step up to help the U.S.A. against the FAKE DEMOCRAT ATTACK that was only meant to hurt our Country. You will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record."
Buttigieg reacted more than once on X, first indicating: "The President wouldn't last five minutes as an air traffic controller, and after everything they've been through – and the way this administration has treated them from Day One – he has no business sh***ing on them now."
He then played video of Trump in the Oval Office Monday, with the president saying Buttigieg "spent billions of dollars trying too patch together our air-traffic control system, which was a conglomeration of all different systems and all different cities. … And when they turned it on, it didn't work. It didn't even work a little bit."
"Other than mostly pronouncing my name right, everything he said was wrong," Buttigieg responded. "He just made a bunch of sh** up about air-traffic control.
"This is a system that was in pretty rough shape by the time he lost in 2020 and we took it over. So we improved it, including launching a long-term communications fix that is still underway that he is now passing off as his idea.
"And thanks to our work, this year he became the first president in decades to inherit an air-traffic control workforce that was actually growing instead of shrinking."
Sean Duffy, Trump's secretary of transportation, fired back at Buttigieg, saying: "Give me a break. You were basically AWOL at the DOT. I spend my whole day dealing with your neglect and cleaning up your messes. Sit this one out."
Also jumping into the fray was Joanie Scott, a retired air-traffic controller with 34 years of experience, who destroyed Buttigieg's claims more than once on X.
"You are a liar," Scott told Buttigieg. "President Trump was right to call out the Air Traffic Controllers who laid out during the shutdown."
"Every one of them is eligible through their Credit Union for a no-interest, short-term loan, repayable upon back pay when the government reopens. Or, they can borrow against their TSP and repay it to themselves when they receive back pay.
"Not one single Air Traffic Controller can claim financial hardship because of these two well-established, common practices that have been in place every shutdown for decades.
"I know this because I worked for the FAA for 34 years. The only Air Traffic Controllers who laid out during the shutdown were the ones intentionally making a political statement in order to make things difficult for the American flying public."
In another post, Scott told Buttigieg: "I retired because of how you and the Biden administration, to use your words, sh** on every employee at the FAA and ruined a once fine agency.
"You allowed men into my office bathroom. I had to work with and for people you hired and promoted because of the color of their skin or who they have sex with who were wholly and completely unqualified for their job.
"You FORCED me to inject an experimental dangerous drug into my body in order to keep my job and paycheck. You, sir, can sit down and shut up."
