The Governor took a brief shot at U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg following the Secretary’s comments Monday regarding how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework✎ EditSign, a President Joe Biden priority, will address systemic racism in highway design. Some conservatives have mocked the Secretary for dedicating resources to the “racism that went into those design choices,” as Buttigieg put it.
When a reporter in Spring Hill on Tuesday asked DeSantis about the infrastructure bill’s reparations provisions, the Governor largely deflected, but not without taking a swipe at Buttigieg.
“I heard some stuff, some weird stuff from the Secretary of Transportation trying to make this about social issues,” DeSantis said. “To me, a road’s a road.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson featured Buttigieg’s comments during his show Monday night and criticized the Secretary for addressing the “racist road problem.” DeSantis appeared on Carlson’s show later in the hour to hammer Biden on illegal immigration.
“Roads can’t be racist anymore than toasters and sectional couches can be racist,” Carlson said. “They are inanimate objects. They’re not alive.”
The Governor has railed against the infrastructure bill this week, calling it “pork-barrel spending” and criticizing the package for benefiting “very high tax and dysfunctional states.”
Buttigieg — whose past political experiences come as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a Democratic presidential candidate — made the systemic racism comments during a White House press conference Monday after a reporter asked how the administration will address the “racism that was built into the roadways.” The Secretary said $1 billion of the $1.2 trillion bill, which passed Congress with the support of 13 Republicans, would be used to address systemic racism in highway design.
“I’m still surprised that some people were surprised when I pointed to the fact that if a highway was built for the purpose of dividing a White and a Black neighborhood or if an underpass was constructed such that a bus carrying mostly Black and Puerto Rican kids to a beach — or that would have been — in New York was designed too low for it to pass by that that obviously reflects racism that went into those design choices,” Buttigieg said. “I don’t think we have anything to lose by confronting that simple reality, and I think we have everything to gain by acknowledging it and then dealing with it.”
Like Carlson, Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz mocked Buttigieg for the response.
“You see, we Hispanics are very, very tall, and we need rich, woke Dems to raise the bridges for us. Without Pete’s condescending help, there’s no way we can get to the beach…,” he tweeted Monday.
The Biden administration notes Florida has deep infrastructure needs.
“The need for action in Florida is clear. For decades, infrastructure in Florida has suffered from a systemic lack of investment. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Florida a C grade on its infrastructure report card,” asserts a Biden Administration fact sheet.
The White House says Florida has 408 bridges and more than 3,564 miles of highway in poor condition. The fact sheet denotes issues in other areas, including water quality, internet connectivity, and others.
Among the expected disbursements to Florida are $13 billion for highway improvement projects, $2.6 billion for public transportation projects, $1.6 billion for water infrastructure, $245 million for bridge replacement projects, $198 million for electric vehicle charging stations, and $100 million for broadband expansion projects. But despite Democrats who voted for the bill touting the revenue as a needed boost, DeSantis says more information is required.
This article first appeared at Florida Politics.
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This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2021.