No, Pete Buttigieg didn’t fake a bike ride

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been a longtime proponent of making bicycling more accessible. During his time as mayor of South Bend, Ind., the League of American Bicyclists recognized the city for its efforts to become more bike and environmentally friendly. 

But now, social media users are accusing Buttigieg of faking a bike ride near the White House.

“Pete Buttigieg’s dog and pony show. He gets out of [the] car to ride his bike a few feet, pretending to save energy,” read the text on a now-removed video shared by conservative commentator Ryan Fournier, who described the action as dishonest in a caption that accompanied the post before it was removed from public view.

The post, which we also found being shared elsewhere with similar claims calling Buttiegieg’s ride fake and staged, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Our ruling

A Facebook video post claims that Buttigieg got out of a car “to ride his bike a few feet,  pretending to save energy.”

A spokesperson for the Transportation Department said Buttigieg used the bike for a round-trip journey between agency headquarters and the White House, which is more than 6 miles. The vehicle seen in the video was part of his security detail.

We rate this post False.

By

Gabrielle Settles

Staff writer

April 6, 2021

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• Video captured by a CNN journalist showed Buttigieg flanked by a security detail as he rode a bike following a White House Cabinet meeting. 

• A spokesperson for the Transportation Department said Buttigieg rode his bike to the White House and back to department headquarters after the meeting.

Statement

“Pete Buttigieg’s dog and pony show. He gets out of [the] car to ride his bike a few feet, pretending to save energy.”

Context

a Facebook post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Facebook posts

Statement Date

April 3, 2021