Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg condemned former President Donald Trump for not speaking about the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore last month.
Buttigieg said it would be “helpful” for the former president to weigh in on the tragedy, during an interview on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki on Sunday.
“At a human level, it would be helpful for the former president to weigh in here and show the solidarity that we have seen from most if not all elected officials on either side of the aisle because of the human nature of what happened,” Buttigieg said. “The fact that you had, you know, these six people, who lost their lives, a seventh very seriously injured, who were out there doing the work that all of us count on.”
Eight construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the collapse, fixing potholes overnight. Buttigieg said that the county counts on workers like those, “many of them immigrants,” to complete important infrastructure jobs.
“They’re not glamorous, they’re not the highest-paying jobs in the country,” Buttigieg said. “But they’re absolutely essential.”
He said human regard should be shown in the wake of six of the construction workers dying as a result of the collapse.
“I think just again at a human level showing some regard for that is very important, and that’s what characteristically President Biden is doing when I was with him in Baltimore,” Buttigieg said.
Biden and Buttigieg visited Baltimore on Friday to examine the wreckage. Biden was quick to pledge full federal support to clear the Port of Baltimore and rebuild the bridge. In 2007, just five days after Minneapolis’ 35W bridge collapsed, a replacement was fully funded by unanimous support in both chambers and by then-President George W. Bush.
On the topic of claims from Republicans that the bridge collapse was due to DEI principles, which many have condemned, Buttigieg said he did not understand that line of thinking in the wake of the tragedy.
“This is not about women and minorities, this is about a bridge that was struck by a ship,” Buttigieg said. “I just don’t understand the mentality of somebody who sees an issue like this that was a very physical and direct infrastructure issue and their first thought is, ‘How can I make this about women and minorities?’”
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) was also quick to shut down any claims of DEI being involved in the bridge collapse, calling them “foolish” and not something he, as governor, has time to debate.
“I have no time for foolishness. I’m locked in,” Moore said.
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Buttigieg said the bridge collapse was simply about infrastructure.
“This is not about politics. This is not about culture wars,” Buttigieg said. “This is about safety, it’s about transportation, it’s about infrastructure.”