Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg made fun of Americans who don’t want to buy electric cars, claiming they’re the same as people didn’t want to adapt to cell phones in the 2000s.
It comes as at least eight states run by Democrats like Buttigieg are planning to ban non-electric vehicles by 2032.
Buttigieg was speaking on Fox News Tuesday afternoon when he was asked about a downturn in sales of Teslas and electric vehicles despite Biden’s administration pushing them.
He said: ‘Let’s be clear, the automotive sector is moving toward EVs and we can’t pretend otherwise. Sometimes, when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to some people who think that we can just have landline phones forever.’
Buttigieg added the only options were for the US to ‘fall behind China or we can claim the lead. President Biden wants to make sure that those EVs are made in America as more Americans choose EVs.’
He even managed to try and dig at Trump by saying that the former president’s administration allowed China to ‘build an advantage in the EV market.’
‘Obviously not because they’re big environmentalists over in China, just because that’s the economically smart play. We’ve been working to make sure that advantage comes back on American soil,’ he added.
Buttigieg said despite the reported downturn in sales that ‘consumers have wanted and purchased more EVs every single year than the year before and Tesla is facing more competition as GM, Ford and other competitors make sure they get a piece of the EV market.’
Wall Street is bracing for the first Tesla sales decline in four years as appetite for electric cars continues to slow.