Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg addressed the Ohio train derailment disaster by saying that 1,000 train derailments happen each year in America.

GALLAGHER: Did you know that we have 1,000 train derailments a year in the United States? Here was Mayor Pete or as the residents of East Palestine are now calling him, Pistol Pete, downplaying this massive train derailment in Eastern Ohio on Yahoo News.

BUTTIGIEG: Look, rail safety is something that has evolved a lot over the years, but there’s clearly more that needs to be done because while this horrible situation has gotten a particularly high amount of attention. There are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing. Obviously they have levels of severity, but where all of that points us to, is a need to continue to raise the bar on rail safety. And that’s especially true when it comes to a rail that involves hazardous materials. Now, this train was subject to certain enhanced requirements because of hazardous materials on board, but obviously, none of that prevented what happened in East Palestine.

GALLAGHER: There is so much to unpack there. If you are listening to Mayor Pete’s comments, I got to believe the first thing that astounds you is the Transportation Secretary seems to shrug off 1,000 train derailments a year. Here was Tucker Carlson’s response to all that.

CARLSON: Wait a second. You think East Palestine is a big deal? A thousand trains derail every year in the United States, says Pete Buttigieg, who presumably has the stats on it. Did you know that? Are you okay with a thousand trains a year derailing in your country? Don’t a lot of these trains carry highly dangerous chemicals through highly populated areas? Yeah. So if you were Pete Buttigieg, put yourself in his tiny position for a moment, if you were him, wouldn’t fixing that, this ongoing disaster, be your very first priority? Well, of course it would be, but you’re not Pete Buttigieg. Pete Buttigieg doesn’t care about trains derailing. He cares about equity. Trains derailing? That’s fine. You’re fine. You’re so fine that people show up to test the air in the water after a train derailment wearing hazmat suits, because the air and water are perfectly safe, as long as you’re wearing a hazmat suit.