Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie claimed Sunday that former President Donald Trump wants to tank the infrastructure bill because “he didn’t do it himself.”
“Well, he’s saying ‘tank the bill,’ I suspect because he didn’t do it himself,” Christie said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “The bottom line on the infrastructure bill is that Republicans and a number of Republicans in the Senate, have said ‘ok, we’re willing to go out and do this’ and the reason they’re willing to do this is because there’s broad public support for much of what they’re talking about in the bill.”
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The former president criticized the seventeen Senate Republicans who voted in favor of moving the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill forward for a final vote and warned that it will be a “victory” for Democrats in a July 28 statement.
“Hard to believe our Senate Republicans are dealing with the Radical Left Democrats in making a so-called bipartisan bill on ‘infrastructure,’ with our negotiators headed up by SUPER RINO Mitt Romney,” Trump said. “This will be a victory for the [President Joe] Biden Administration and Democrats, and will be heavily used in the 2022 election. It is a loser for the USA, and a terrible deal, and makes Republicans look weak, foolish, and dumb.”
“Don’t do it Republicans — Patriots will never forget!” he continued. (RELATED: Trump Erupts After Republicans Move Forward With Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal)
“If we start doing what Yvette [Pena-O’Sullivan] wants to do, the Republicans are going to walk, they will. They’ll say I’m walking because I support universal broadband, bridges, tunnels, airports,” the former New Jersey governor told host George Stephanopoulos.
In January, Pena-O’Sullivan, the executive director of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), argued that the bill must be passed through bipartisan leadership and stressed that adding climate solutions into the legislation will not help in terms of gaining support from both sides of the aisle.
“This is a key moment for Democrats to decide, do they really want bipartisanship or don’t they? Republicans disagree with you, we just do, the same way you disagree with us on certain things. We’re not going to support that, but we will support the stuff that’s in that infrastructure bill, at least a large number will,” he said.
The Senate voted on the bill two days later, earning the bipartisan support of 66 senators and allowing its progression to a final vote. The lawmakers failed to wrap up on the bill on August 6 after talks to expedite the process failed, however, Democratic lawmakers appeared to remain confident that the legislation can reach a final vote.
“While we weren’t able to agree on additional amendments today, I also look forward to us reconvening on Saturday and proceeding under regular order to finish what will be historic legislation both in its bipartisan nature and the impact it will have on this country,” Democratic Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema said.
Trump called for a $2 trillion infrastructure bill during his presidency and supported the House of Representatives’ passage of a bipartisan $1.5 trillion infrastructure legislation in July 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported.