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Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday there will be ‘accountability’ if an investigation finds there are specific entities or individuals responsible for the Baltimore bridge collapse. The promise from the Transportation Secretary comes after President Joe Biden vowed the day the Francis Scott Bridge went down into the Patapsco River that the federal government would foot the bill for reconstruction.
The 1.6-mile bridge partially collapsed after a cargo shipping container vessel crashed into one of its support structures just before 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. ‘The President said yesterday the federal government will pay for the entire cost of rebuilding. But if you find that somebody involved here was responsible, why not have them pay?’ Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked Buttigieg.
Biden’s DOT chief replied: ‘Yeah, there’s no question that if the investigation determines that any private party or parties are responsible, they will be held accountable.’ This comes after conspiracies swirled online that the crash was somehow intentional – even after law enforcement shot down concerns this could be a terrorist attack.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was among those pushing claims that the ship colliding with the bridge was purposeful. ‘There should be a serious investigation into the horrifying tragedy of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland ,’ the far-right congresswoman posted to X, formerly Twitter . ‘Is this an intentional attack or an accident?’
David Simon, creator of the Baltimore-based crime drama The Wire, called MTG a ‘submoronic pratfall of a human being’ for spreading the conspiracy and said on X that it was likely ‘port operations’ and ‘bridge maintenance’ to blame for the tragedy. It is presumed that six missing workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse are dead, but the search continues for their bodies.
President Biden responded Tuesday to the horrific collapse, which was caught on camera, in remarks from the White House. ‘We’re going to get it up and running again as soon as possible. 15,000 jobs depend on that port. And we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs,’ Biden said. ‘I’m directing my team move heaven and Earth three, open the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as possible.’
He added: ‘It’s my intention that federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstruction in that bridge. I expect the Congress to support my effort this is going to take some time. The people of Baltimore can count on us to stick with them at every step of the way.’ ‘We’re not leaving until this job gets done.’
The bridge is part of a vital system of road in the Baltimore-Washington Metro area and is in a very busy international port. Many are speculating over how the collapse will severely impact both commuter travel and port operations for years to come. ‘There are certainly many ports on the East Coast,’ Buttigieg told MSNBC in a Morning Joe interview. There is no substitute for the Port of Baltimore being up and running.’
The Transportation Secretary said at a different point in the interview: ‘We are doing everything that can be done so that we can get this bridge back up and get that port back open.’ Florida congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini said on X on Tuesday that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is to blame for the collapse. Republicans claim that DEI is used to promote unfair practices that discriminate against certain groups and push mostly liberal agendas.
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