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 in a bid to promote his green credentials. 

The Biden appointee, 39, was seen bicycling to the White House Thursday to attend a cabinet meeting, after earlier touting eco-friendly modes of transport. 

But footage from WFMZ-TV purportedly shows Buttigieg’s security detail unloading the bike from the back of a ‘gas guzzling’ SUV just blocks 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.’

Pete Buttigieg has been ridiculed on social media after he appeared to stage a bike ride in a bid to promote his green credentials. Security was seen unloading his bike from an SUV before he rode to the White House for a cabinet meeting 

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.  

Buttigieg was appointed as Biden’s Secretary of Transportation in January. The pair previously faced off in the Democratic primaries

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.