Peter Buttigieg is mocked 'for staging a bike ride' to promote eco-friendly transport

Pete Buttigieg has been ridiculed on social media after he appeared to stage a bike ride to the White House in a bid to promote his green credentials. 

The Secretary of Transportation, 39, was seen arriving at the building on his bike Thursday to attend a Cabinet meeting with Joe Biden. It appeared the politician had cycled in from his office at the Department of Transportation three miles away. 

However, footage from WFMZ-TV  quickly went viral after it purportedly showed Buttigieg’s security detail unloading the bike from the back of a ‘gas guzzling’ SUV just blocks back from the White House. 

The vision prompted conservative critics to claim that Buttigieg – who serves as Secretary of Transportation – had pretended to ride much further than he actually had. 

‘Pete Buttigieg’s dog and pony show,’ one person raged on Twitter.

‘Use an armored Suburban to bring a bike within a short distance of the destination. Unload it and ride in with a security detail in tow, pretending to save energy.’

Another concurred stating: ‘Pete Buttigieg wants you to believe he’s saving energy as Secretary of Transportation. The idea is to use a gas guzzling Suburban to drive within earshot of your destination, unload a bike and ride in like you came from home. The theater never stops.’

Another laughed at the leaked footage showing the bike being unloaded. 

‘It’s not every day you get to see behind the scenes as government propaganda is produced,’ the amused Twitter user wrote.  

Some stated that Democrats were more likely to stage photo ops in a bid to ‘virtue signal’. 

However, others asserted that politicians of both parties carefully manufactured their images in a bid to appear authentic.  

‘They do the bare minimum because they know it’s all they need. It’s all calculated,’ one stated.  

The Department of Transportation told The New York Post that Buttigeg ‘rode his bike to the White House cabinet meeting’.

They did not say whether the bike ride began at Buttigieg’s office, which is located in the DOT building three miles away. 

However, they did confirmed that he rode the entirety of the way back.  

Last week, Buttigieg came under fire for suggesting that a drivers pay a tax on the miles they drive in a bid to fund infrastructure improvements.  

‘The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it. It’s not anymore, so a so-called vehicle miles traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call, could be a way to do it,’ he told CNBC. 

Critics complained that such a tax would adversely affect rural Americans who have to drive long distances to work. 

Buttigieg backed away from the idea following widespread outrage, saying such a tax was ‘not a part of the conversation’ in Biden’s new $3billion infrastructure plan, which includes plans for ‘green’ projects.