It wasn’t long.
Hours after a shipping consignment destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, right-wing pundits, Fox hosts and Republican lawmakers discovered a way to blame the fatal crisis on Democratic politicians and their favorite cultural battles.
According to the conservative media ecosystem, the horrific bridge collapse may simply be related to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, the “open border,” pandemic-era shutdowns, and corporations being forced to hire “addicted” employees.
The Dali, a 948-foot Singaporean freighter, slammed into the bridge’s dock around 1:30 a. m. m. local time, causing the entire route to fall into the Patapsco River. A harbor pilot was piloting the ship out of the bay at the time, and it gave the impression of losing strength just before it hit the bridge.
Six other people were still missing Tuesday morning and two staff members were rescued from the frigid waters, one of whom avoided injury. An emergency call just before the collision likely saved lives, as it allowed bridge operators to stop traffic. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there was no indication the crash was intentional and called it an “accident. “The federal and local governments agreed that the “catastrophic” crisis did not appear to be an act of terrorism.
As the U. S. and Singapore governments announced investigations into the incident and first responders continued to search for possible survivors, right-wing supporters took to the paintings that circulated unbalanced conspiracy theories about the bridge collapse.
While Elon Musk’s X was awash in unfounded claims that corporate projects for diversity, Israel, or globalist cyberattacks were failure, conservative cable TV channels Newsmax and Fox Business Network made the decision to engage in their own baseless speculations.
In an interview with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Fox host Maria Bartiromo continually attempted to link border security policies to the bridge collapse. “Maersk made comments this morning, the container shipment that collided with the bridge was chartered through Maersk,” he said on his morning show. I need to perceive the threats or potential threats that this country faces right now given the open border, the fact that we don’t know who’s in the country. Officials told us that the FBI is looking into this matter, but that’s business as usual. The FBI will look into a situation like this to make sure there was no criminal act. “
Bartiromo, a once-respected business journalist who in recent years has a MAGA-inspired conspiracy theorist, has continued to link immigration to the bridge disaster.
“Let me give you your take on what’s happening in terms of global affairs. The White House issued a statement on the matter saying there was no indication of any nefarious intent in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The shipment in question in “The Bridge Collapsed is 948 feet long and is called The Dali, a Singapore-flagged container,” Bartiromo said. “Of course, you’ve talked a lot about irregularities or the threat of crime, given the wide opening of borders. Why did Republicans have such a hard time securing the border?The president says he won’t take any executive action. You know it!
Towards the end of the interview, Bartiromo asked if the collapse of the bridge would “fuel inflation again”, adding that “transporting all those goods is expensive and we saw what happened in the Red Sea when the ships were attacked”.
Meanwhile, on Newsmax, an expert considered persona non grata at Fox suggested that the crisis was due to an alleged decline in employment criteria caused by COVID-19 and various hires.
“If you take a look at our critical infrastructure, I’m one of the people who thinks we’re never going to fully get out of all the COVID lockdowns and issues and you can take a look at. . . our air traffic controllers, where we have mission-critical issues. with spaces to fill,” American Conservation Union President Matt Schlapp said Tuesday morning.
The CPAC host, who was kicked out of Fox News following allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, later admitted that he is “not an expert” before giving his take further on the root cause of the collision.
“All I would say is that if you contact American employers, they’ll tell you that filling positions with drug-addicted workers is a big deal, so I’m not charging express fees here because we don’t. I don’t know,” he said. But you know, anyone who travels to America can see that you’re constantly waiting on the track somewhere for a team to arrive. There are more maintenance issues than we’ve ever had, which I think is an understatement to describe the issues I’ve had. I have described.
Elsewhere on Newsmax, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and network hosts warned that the Biden administration’s recent infrastructure spending was to blame for the collapse, saying spending wasn’t enough on roads and bridges. According to the South Carolina lawmaker, the climate replacement bills have the bridges to “rust. “
“Look at the $1. 2 trillion infrastructure bill that was drafted a few years ago and is hailed by the left as a huge success, even though it’s more commonly a ‘Green New Deal,'” he said. In fact, $110 million has been included in this bill. It has been spent on surface transport, i. e. roads and bridges. And of that $110 bill, $70 is spent on public transportation, leaving only $40 of bill on classic roads and bridges, which is what you and I are thinking about. And if you live along the coast or near the water, you know our bridges are rusting, you know we have many, many bridges that want to be replaced and upgraded.
Senior Media Journalist
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