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Bridge collapses, 10 reportedly injured near site of Biden’s planned infrastructure speech

January 28, 2022 | | Print Article

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A bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed Friday morning only hours before President Joe Biden was set to arrive in town to brag about his “signature bipartisan infrastructure law.”

“Biden heads to Pittsburgh Friday to highlight the infrastructure law, which the White House has often said is meant to address the nation’s crumbling bridges. He is scheduled to speak at Carnegie Mellon University at Mill 19,” according to Bloomberg.

But hours before his speech, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s largest municipal park, Frick Park, collapsed. The park sits about three miles from where the president is slated to speak.

Thankfully, there were no fatalities or life-threatening injuries, though three of the 10 people injured were taken to a hospital.

Aside from the broken bridge and non-life-threatening injuries, there appeared to be nothing else other than deep symbolism, as noted below by Fox Business Network host Charles Payne:

Below are more photos and videos from the scene:

According to ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Pennsylvania has “the second-highest” number of “bridges in poor condition” in the United States.

PA currently boasts a Democrat governor, though the governorship tends to swing between parties. The mayorship of Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has remained in Democrat control since the mid-1930s.

The president’s “signature bipartisan infrastructure law” was signed into law almost three months ago. Prior to its signing, however, critics complained that the bill had little to do with actual infrastructure. Included among these critics was Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican.

“When I look at this legislation, what I see is a small part of this now-law is going to be focused on what we call traditional infrastructure, which is roads and bridges and runways and railways and broadband,” she said on Newsmax at the time.

“That is what Tennessee and I have wanted to see, and they’ve been so disappointed that this is being couched as something that was bipartisan when there was very little bipartisan support, and the bill is more about money for unions and money for the Green New Deal.”

And indeed, about a week before the president signed the deal, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg delivered remarks touting the legislation and saying it would fix the supposed issue of “racist” highway signs.

Some say all this — that nothing has changed in three months, and that so much of the bill had been about anything about infrastructure — proves that the bill was a “sham.”

But Democrats see things differently. To them, the bridge’s collapse is proof of why it was necessary to pass a bill that had barely anything to do with infrastructure.

Look:

Democrats also believe that the bridge’s collapse is further proof that Republicans are evil demons whose political careers deserve to “collapse.”

Look (*Language warning):

To be clear, congressional Republicans are currently on track to retake all of Congress, so it seems quite unlikely that their political careers will be collapsing anytime soon. As for the president’s approval rating, it’s collapsed and can’t get back up …

Vivek Saxena
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