DETROIT — Aside from one question during the debate, Republican presidential candidates were loathe to talk about the lead water crisis in Flint, Mich., just 70 miles from the theater in which they stood.
Sen. Marco Rubio was the only candidate asked about the water crisis enveloping the town of 100,000. Rubio said he didn’t think Republican candidates were avoiding the issue, instead saying the GOP is more focused on helping Flint.
“This should not be a partisan issue in the way the Democrats have tried to turn this into a partisan issue,” he said, “that Republicans woke up one morning and thought, ‘Oh it’s a good idea to poison some kids with lead.’ It’s absurd, it’s outrageous, it isn’t true.”
Flint residents can’t drink their water due to lead contamination brought on by a switch in water sources in April 2014. Acidic river water ate away at lead pipes and allowed the hazardous element to leach off into drinking water.
Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and, to a large extent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have made Flint a central issue in their campaigns. Clinton has issued two campaign ads focused on Flint, both candidates have visited the state, Clinton has dispatched campaign aides to the city, and the Democrats will hold a debate in the town Sunday night.
Rubio said all of that action has just politicized the city’s water problem.
“I don’t think someone woke up one morning and said, ‘Let’s poison the water and hurt someone,’ he said.
Many Republicans in Michigan, calling on Democrats to stop making the water crisis about politics and instead pitch in to help, have repeated that line of thought.
At the same time, the Michigan speaker of the House recently said he would not send more money to Flint until a new budget starts in October, including money to replace lead pipes in the city. Many of the complaints about the water back before Gov. Rick Snyder declared an emergency in January were dismissed as political.
After the debate, businessman Donald Trump spoke briefly about the lead water crisis and called on the federal government to work with the state to solve the issue.
“They have to work with the state government in order for it to get done,” Trump said. “That’s a really terrible thing, I feel very, very badly for the people in Flint.”
Earlier in the night, Trump said he would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency if he were president in order to save money. Trump did not answer if he believed eliminating the EPA would cause more situations like Flint.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich walked away from a question about the lead water crisis.
