Pete Buttigieg mocks Americans who don’t want electric cars and claims they are like people in the ‘early 2000s’ who wanted ‘landline phones forever’

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg mocked Americans who don’t want to buy electric cars, saying they are the same people who didn’t want to adapt to cell phones in the 2000s.

It comes as at least eight states governed by Democrats like Buttigieg plan to ban non-electric vehicles by 2032.

Buttigieg was speaking on Fox News Tuesday afternoon when asked about a drop in sales of Teslas and electric vehicles despite a push by the Biden administration.

He said: “Let’s be clear: the automotive sector is moving towards electric vehicles and we cannot pretend otherwise.” Sometimes when these debates happen, I feel like it’s the early 2000s and I’m talking to some people who think we can have landlines forever.’

Buttigieg added that the only options were for the United States to “fall behind China or we can claim leadership.” “President Biden wants to make sure those electric vehicles are made in America as more Americans choose electric vehicles.”

He even managed to try to criticize Trump by saying that the former president’s administration allowed China to “build an advantage in the electric vehicle market.”

‘Obviously not because they are big environmentalists in China, but simply because that is the economically smart move. “We have been working to make sure that advantage returns on American soil,” he added.

Buttigieg said that despite the reported sales decline, “consumers have wanted and bought more electric vehicles each year than the year before and Tesla faces increased competition as GM, Ford and other competitors make sure to get a part of the electric vehicle market.

Wall Street is bracing for Tesla’s first sales decline in four years as appetite for electric cars continues to slow.

The last time it saw a year-on-year drop in deliveries was in the first half of 2020, when automakers had to close factories due to COVID.

Even with sales of electric vehicles falling, Democrats continue to push for them and against gasoline-powered vehicles.

At least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in the next decade, and others are considering joining them.

Only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in participating states starting with the 2035 model year, under the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation.

The rule, which was first adopted by California, means that auto manufacturers and dealers would be prohibited from selling new gasoline-powered cars in these states.

However, Americans will not be forced to take their gasoline cars off the roads and will still be able to purchase used gasoline vehicles.

These states have gone further than the latest federal legislation announced last week, where the Biden administration released new rules to phase out gas-powered cars by 2032.

New federal legislation requires automakers to reduce tailpipe emissions from new vehicles by about 50 percent from model years 2026 to 2032.

To achieve this, the Environmental Protection Agency aims that between 35 and 56 percent of vehicles must be electric vehicles by 2032, and between 13 and 36 percent must be plug-in hybrids by that date.

It was initially proposed that two-thirds of all cars sold by 2030 would have to be electric vehicles, but last week that plan was put on hold, giving a concession to automakers and giving them more ways to comply.

But automakers will eventually stop making all-gasoline-powered successors to the beloved sports cars of the 1960s and 1970s under Biden’s new edict.