A Facebook account, “Nona Sharabidze,” which often spreads posts containing anti-Ukrainian content and disinformation (1; 2; 3), published a photo with the following description: “Here’s also the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.” The photo shows a man wearing a skirt and high-heel shoes. According to the post’s claim, he is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (archived link).
Using a reverse image search tool, it was found that the photograph has been published on various entertainment pages for years. Russian pages share it with identical descriptions, claiming that the man in the photo is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
The head of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, who has held this position since 2021, looks completely different and does not resemble the man depicted in the photo above (see photo).
In 2021, Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay minister to be elected to this position, and presumably, this is why such disinformation is spread about him.
Therefore, the claim that the person depicted in the photo is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation is false.
