He's one of the leading Democrat candidates for the presidency.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg failed to replace outdated air traffic control systems while in office -- with his agency instead shelling out tens of billions of dollars on a DEI agenda, according to federal spending records and airline industry insiders.

In one meeting, Buttigieg -- who is said to be eyeing a 2028 presidential run -- told industry executives that air traffic control upgrades would just allow them to fly more planes, "and so why would that be in his interest?" sources said.

What his department was really interested in was handing out hundreds of diversity, equity and inclusion grants totaling more than $80 billion over four years -- at least half of the DOT's entire budget for a typical fiscal year, records show.

"He was definitely pushing an agenda," an air industry official said, noting the transportation secretary had "little to no interest" and took "definitely zero action" toward air traffic control modernization.

Buttigieg spent his time in President Joe Biden's cabinet blaming the airlines for their delays and "vilifying" the industry as a whole while denying his department's DEI agenda led to any air traffic control staffing shortages or was maintaining an ailing safety system that hasn't been updated since the Carter administration, sources told The Post.

Vice President JD Vance speaking at a podium, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking at a press conference, Governor Gavin Newsom speaking at a press conference.

The flying public paid the price, insiders said.

"At first, [the Department of Transportation] and he were reluctant to say there was an air traffic controller shortage or that the shortage had anything to do with flight delays or flight cancellations," the air industry official said.

...

Despite the requested changes to the air traffic control systems early in his term, Buttigieg seemed more interested in being "good on TV" than fixing the archaic systems that were flying up to 182 million passengers per year, officials said.

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In an urgent letter to Buttigieg's DOT in April 2024, air industry trade association officials warned that at the current rate of hiring, it could take as long as 90 years for the FAA to reach its targeted staffing levels in some of the critical New York air traffic control centers.

At the same time, the focus of the department under Buttigieg also shifted, with roughly 400 DEI-related grants approved, according to a review of federal spending between 2021 and 2024.

Just 60 grants for diversity, equity or inclusion initiatives were approved during the previous administration, totaling no more than a few billion dollars.

Programs such as "Justice40" ended up shelling out 55% of around $150 billion in infrastructure investments to "disadvantaged communities," pursuant to an executive order Biden signed to "advance equitable outcomes."

Petey Bootyjudge recently got 0% support from black Democrats in a poll. And that wasn't a fluke -- in 2019, when he was "running for president," he also got 0% support from black Democrats in a poll.

Blacks are not as enamored of gay white men as the Democrats' other major constituency, leftwing moral scold white women, are.

He is fixated on the idea that he must be president. So it's very, very likely that he diverted that $80 billion from necessary hiring and upgrades to racial pandering just to boost his profile among blacks.

It failed.