On Tuesday, as first responders worked through the night to rescue survivors from a fatal train wreck near Philadelphia, reporters and politicos rushed to tie the deadly event to political budget fights in the nation’s capital.
Later, even after several reports showed that the wreck was likely caused by a careless conductor, the press maintained its narrative, suggesting in report after report that the GOP’s unwillingness to increase infrastructure spending was somehow linked to the crash.
“Earlier today, relates to Amtrak derailment: Feds warn transportation funding is running out,” Circa editor in chief Anthony De Rosa said Tuesday evening as he promoted a story featured on the group’s website.
Politico editorial director Blake Hounshell was also quick to use the occasion of the deadly crash to promote a story tying the tragedy to a congressional markup session that would cut Amtrak’s budget.
Marie Myung-Ok Lee, who has a byline at the Atlantic and Salon, added, “Why do we let our country’s infrastructure get so bad that we don’t do anything until there are fatalities?”
Later, as authorities confirmed Wednesday morning that the wreck had claimed the lives of at least seven passengers, U.S. media maintained its laser-like focus on infrastructure spending.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” dedicated a significant amount time to discussing how increased public spending could’ve prevented the deadly accident.
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Philip Bump busied themselves promoting an article, titled “Why is funding Amtrak such a struggle? Because Republican districts don’t use it,” to their Twitter followers.
Writers at Vox meanwhile searched for ways to explain how more money could have saved the lives of those Amtrak passengers, pondering also the optics of Republican-proposed budget cuts to public transportation.
CNN and CNBC dedicated a large share of their morning and afternoon coverage Wednesday to discussions surrounding infrastructure spending.
ThinkProgress, a left-wing watchdog group, argued fiercely that budget cuts should be factored into all coverage of the Amtrak crash — regardless of whether or not public spending had anything to do with the wreck.
And the list goes on and on.
The likelihood that the crash had nothing to do with budget cuts and everything to do with the Amtrak conductor allegedly taking a turn at 107 miles per hour does not appear to have dissuaded U.S. newsrooms.
For reporters and politicos, the crash near Philadelphia is an opportunity to discuss Republicans, public funding and rail travel.
The New Republic published an article Wednesday afternoon bearing the headline, “House Republicans Aim to Cut Amtrak Funding the Day After Philadelphia Derailment.”
MarketWatch published an op-ed titled, “Amtrak crash shows the high cost of ignoring infrastructure.”
Not to be outdone, MSNBC went with a story, titled “Conservative lawmakers have supported cutting #Amtrak funding for years,” detailing the GOP’s longstanding reluctance to increase public spending.
On Wednesday afternoon, there was no shortage of stories tying public spending to the disastrous Amtrak crash.
Even non-news media types got in on the action, with reality TV star and failed alcohol tycoon Donald Trump boasting Tuesday night that he alone possesses the ability to repair and strengthen U.S. infrastructure.
Trump was joined by fellow outspoken cable news fixture Lizz Winstead, who chimed in Tuesday night with her two cents, saying on Twitter, “In NYC, we have 160 bridges over 100 years old. But we can’t invest in infrastructure because freedom.”
Not to be left out the mix, U.S. lawmakers were also quick to blame a lack of infrastructure spending on the deadly accident, with Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., saying Wednesday afternoon that without, “yet knowing cause of Amtrak derailment it is clear our infrastructure is woefully underfunded & in need of improvement and investment.”
Earlier, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio used the crash as an occasion to lobby for more federal infrastructure spending.
To reiterate, it does not appear that the crash was caused by crumbling rails or bridges, but by human error on the part of the Amtrak conductor.
