Republicans slammed for trying to blame Baltimore bridge collapse on Biden’s infrastructure bill

Republicans are facing criticism for attempting to blame the Baltimore Bridge collapse on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on Tuesday after a cargo ship crashed into it. Six construction workers are presumed dead.

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace appeared on the rightwing channel Newsmax on Tuesday when she was asked why there are still old bridges and roads in the US after the passing of legislation to upgrade them.

“Because we're not spending it on roads and bridges,” she claimed. “Look at the $1.2tn infrastructure bill that was done a couple of years ago that the left hails as this massive success, but it was mostly Green New Deal, actually, in that bill – 110bn went to surface transportation which is roads and bridges and of that 110bn, 70 billion went to public transportation leaving only 40bn for traditional roads and bridges.”

Ms Mace inaccurately described the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure deal, which she didn’t vote for but has taken credit for.

“The legislation will reauthorize surface transportation programs for five years and invest $110 billion in additional funding to repair our roads and bridges and support major, transformational projects,” the White House said in November 2021.

In addition to that, separately, the White House noted that “The legislation includes $39 billion of new investment to modernize transit, in addition to continuing the existing transit programs for five years as part of surface transportation reauthorization”.

“In total, the new investments and reauthorization in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal provide $89.9 billion in guaranteed funding for public transit over the next five years — the largest Federal investment in