During an interview this week on CNN with the network’s Kaitlan Collins, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confronted and condemned the conspiracy theories that some have propagated following the collapse of a bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
Indications point to a freak accident involving serious malfunctions aboard an involved cargo ship that then veered into a direct collision with the bridge, sending major portions of it into the water and killing six people. But characteristically, some have gone beyond these realities to make wild and unfounded allegations.
“After this ship hit this bridge, and the bridge collapsed, there were these wild conspiracy theories, about what really happened,” Collins remarked to Buttigieg. “I mean, they ranged from a cyber-attack, to the captain having side effects from the COVID vaccine. They even blamed the Obamas, at one point. And I just wonder, as a sitting Cabinet Secretary, if you ever thought that you’d have to combat something like that, when dealing with a crisis.”
“What’s really upsetting, of course, is that when misinformation or disinformation circulates, that is not without victims,” Buttigieg replied to Collins. “Remember, this is a human tragedy. Six people lost their lives. […] And we, as a department, need good factual information about how this happens, so that we can include that in future decisions, on everything from maritime and shipping policy, to bridge design for the 2030s and 2040s. All of that requires being grounded in fact. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Buttigieg also spoke at a recent press conference at the White House about comprehensive efforts by the federal government to respond to the crisis, citing new provisions for federal coordination of shipping that he said were allowing for greater federal assistance in securing the supply chain following the major port disruptions of the collapse. The new office within the Transportation Department to which he pointed was created by the infrastructure package well-known for its signing by President Biden.
