In a June 10 letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota expressed support for a multi-million dollar infrastructure grant application that “strives to serve as a social justice measure.”
The application, submitted by Ankona County, Minnesota, aims to address safety and equity concerns surrounding Minnesota State Highway 65.
“The completion of this project means improved economic opportunities for ethnically underserved communities. Currently, Highway 65 is very difficult to travel or cross for people walking or riding bikes, which is often a barrier to economic prosperity for so many living in and around the area,” Emmer wrote in the letter to Buttigieg.
Emmer’s letter has sparked criticism from some Republicans, who told the Daily Caller that the letter proves Emmer agrees with President Joe Biden and Buttigieg that America’s highway system is racist.
On June 30, Buttigieg announced the launch of the Reconnecting Communities program, which pledged $1 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act toward infrastructure projects that advance “equity.” The initiative aims to help reconnect mostly low-income, black communities that were “cut off from economic opportunities” by the 1950s expansion of the interstate highway system.
Emmer is currently competing with Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson to become majority whip if Republicans take back the House in November. Donald Trump Jr. contrasted Emmer unfavorably with Banks, saying the Indiana congressman and Republican Study Committee chairman is trying to move leadership further to the right, while Emmer is not.
“Banks is trying to move leadership in a more conservative direction and Emmer agrees with Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg that our highways are racist. You can’t make this stuff up,” Trump Jr. told the Caller.
“This is exactly how never-Trump Republicans like Tom Emmer talk behind closed doors. Emmer has a lot more in common with Pete Buttigieg than your average Republican voter, and that’s why he wouldn’t support Harriet Hageman over Liz Cheney in Wyoming,” a GOP aide with knowledge of the situation told the Caller. (RELATED: Buttigieg Starts $1 Billion ‘First-Of-Its-Kind’ Anti-Racist Roads Project)
A Republican close to Trump told the Caller that Emmer is endorsing “woke left-wing nonsense from Mayor Pete.”
“We need House leaders with the courage to fight back against the left’s ‘social justice’ lies, not weak RINOs who kowtow to them,” the source added. (RELATED: Democrats Want To Tear Down Highways … To Solve Historic Racism?)