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Duffy unleashes on Buttigieg with swipe over which admin has accomplished more: 'Moved like a sloth'
By Leo Briceno
Published May 19, 2026
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called his predecessor, Pete Buttigieg, a "sloth" on Sunday while laying out accomplishments under President Donald Trump’s second term through a video interspersed with footage from multiple iconic movies.
"Pete Buttigieg moved like a sloth," Duffy wrote in a post to X. "I’m moving at the speed of Trump!"
"He did nothing. He spent $80 billion on DEI and on climate change. We did more in one year than the last administration did in all four," Duffy added.
Like other issues, such as border security, the video from Duffy highlights the Trump administration’s eagerness to use distance from former President Joe Biden as a benchmark for success.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters on day 23 of the government shutdown as he is joined by, from left, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., at a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
When approached by Fox News Digital about Duffy's "sloth" comments, Sean Manning, a spokesperson for Buttigieg, referred reporters to a list of published accomplishments the department reported from 2021-2025.
"Sean Duffy is looking more desperate by the day. The American people would prefer that he do his actual job instead of making up lies on social media or going on a seven-month vacation paid for by the companies he’s supposed to regulate," Manning said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
In particular, Duffy’s video took aim at Buttigieg’s track record on trucking certification and air travel even as it touted other developments such as clearing the way for "air mobility" vehicles and investments in engineering through the Maritime Academy.
"Buttigieg spent billions of dollars trying to patch together our air traffic control system," Trump said in one of the clips featured in the montage.
The video, which included Lightning McQueen, the fictional Pixar race car, clips from Marvel’s "Iron Man" and even a scene from "The Terminator," highlighted the $12 billion in funding for new air traffic controllers included in Trump’s signature Big Beautiful Bill as well as 12,000 applicants that, according to the administration, had set records for interest in air safety work.
DUFFY URGES SENATE TO PASS BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL'S $12.5B AIR TRAFFIC SYSTEM FIX
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy speaks during a press conference on air traffic controller pay and the government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 23, 2025. Former Secretary Pete Buttigieg appears on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on March 4, 2025. (Eric Lee/Getty Images; Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty Images)
The video dovetails with announcements from Duffy last week outlining $750 million efforts to replace eight air traffic control towers with "state-of-the-art" facilities. Additionally, Duffy announced an $85.8 million investment to upgrade Federal Contract Towers at 41 airports in 24 states.
But more than improvements to the control centers, Duffy drew attention to ways the administration had bolstered licensing requirements for truckers.
"Buttigieg did not enforce the law," Duffy said. "The wild West era of truck driver training — it’s over."
DUFFY SAYS ‘TIME’S UP’ FOR NEWSOM AS FEDS WITHHOLD $160M OVER ILLEGAL TRUCKING LICENSES
The video reminded viewers of efforts by the administration to withhold funding from states for lax standards in states like New York and California.
In particular, it recounted how California had removed 17,000 trucker licenses from "dangerous foreign drivers" after Duffy threatened to withhold $160 million in federal funding.
It also highlighted $73 million in withheld funds from New York after the agency found that over 50% of its non-domiciled trucking licenses were issued illegally.
Then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg looks on as then-President Joe Biden speaks in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus in Washington, D.C., on May 8, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Buttigieg, who served as Transportation secretary in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025, has been discussed as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028.
Before his tenure under Biden, Buttigieg himself ran for president in 2020, but eventually dropped out and endorsed Biden.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/duffy-unleashes-buttigieg-swipe-over-admin-has-accomplished-more-sloth