As President Biden visits North Carolina to highlight funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DNC spokesperson Jackie Bush released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump didn’t get the chance to lie about his embarrassing infrastructure record in North Carolina at his canceled rally last month, but President Biden is visiting the state to tell the facts: President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law during his first year in office – investing more than $9 billion to modernize North Carolina’s infrastructure. Meanwhile, Donald Trump promised for years to secure an infrastructure deal, and instead only managed to succeed in turning ‘infrastructure week’ into a joke. North Carolinians will head to the polls in November knowing President Biden is the clear choice in this election when it comes to fighting for hardworking American families.” 

Thanks to President Biden, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continues to deliver historic infrastructure investments that are helping to rebuild North Carolina’s roads and bridges, provide access to clean drinking water, modernize transportation systems, and improve access to affordable high-speed internet.

Associated Press: “President Joe Biden signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law Monday before a bipartisan, celebratory crowd on the White House lawn, declaring that the new infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life ‘change for the better’ for the American people.”

Reuters: “‘Finally, infrastructure week!’ Biden says, cheering $1 trillion bill”

ABC11: “Biden announces $3B investment in high speed internet for rural communities during NC visit”

“Biden revealed his administration would invest $3 billion to build and fund internet connections in North Carolina. The administration estimates that an additional 300,000 state residents will be able to access the internet by the end of 2026.

“In a more immediate push, Biden said his administration would spend $82 million in North Carolina to help connect 16,000 new households and businesses to high-speed internet, delivering an election-year pitch about policies he says are ’just getting started’ at improving the United States.

“Part of the $3 billion investment will go to expanding the fiber optic networks expected to power the internet for the next generation. Biden said he also plans to create subsidies for low-income residents to help them gain access to this resource.”

Winston-Salem Journal: “Biden allocates $361M for NC’s essential water infrastructure”

CBS17: “NC set to receive billions for roads, bridges, high-speed internet access as part of Biden’s infrastructure bill”

Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans in North Carolina gave weak excuses for why they voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is delivering for their constituents. 

Raleigh News & Observer: “The lame excuses NC Republicans had for opposing the infrastructure bill”

“Eight House GOP counterparts said a collective ‘no’ in the late Friday vote that sent the bill to President Biden. They opposed an infrastructure package that will bring nearly $9 billion to North Carolina over the next five years. North Carolina’s five House Democrats voted in favor of the bill. 

“This familiar partisan split in the state’s U.S. House delegation should remind North Carolina voters what is at stake as Republican state lawmakers have passed new congressional redistricting maps that could give Republicans an 11-3 advantage. Gerrymandering has given ideologues and blind followers of former President Trump a lopsided advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation to the disadvantage of North Carolina. 

“Reps. Ted Bud, Dan Bishop, Virginia Foxx, David Rouzer, Patrick McHenry, Madison Cawthorn, Greg Murphy and Richard Hudson opposed spending that will repair the state’s roads and bridges, expand broadband, improve mass transit, take lead out of drinking water and make the state more resilient to flooding related to climate change. 

“And why did these N.C. honorables object? Well, we know why – the spending will boost the agenda of a Democratic president. But pure partisanship can’t be an official explanation, so they once more raised flimsy or false objections.”

Washington Post: “They opposed the infrastructure law. Now, some in the GOP court its cash.” 

“Nearly two years after Congress finalized the first in a series of measures to improve the nation’s aging infrastructure and combat climate change, some of the GOP lawmakers who originally tried to scuttle the spending are now welcoming it. They have privately courted newly available federal money to improve their local roads, bridges, pipes, ports and internet connections, and publicly celebrated when their cities and states have secured a portion of the aid.”

During Donald Trump’s presidency he failed to deliver after promising to get an infrastructure deal done, and in the process managed to turn “infrastructure week”  into a joke. 

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Administration officials claim that [Trump’s] new infrastructure plan will support $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment, but his 2019 budget reveals that that number’s a mirage: the President would cut annual federal support for infrastructure in the long run and shift costs to states, cities, and private individuals. As we previewed here, it likely would mean cuts to some of the areas in which new infrastructure investment is needed most — while providing a potential windfall for private investors.” 

Washington Post: “Trump’s 2016 campaign pledges on infrastructure have fallen short, creating opening for Biden”

New York Times: “How ‘Infrastructure Week’ Became a Long-Running Joke”

“At this point in the Trump presidency, ‘Infrastructure Week’ is less a date on the calendar than it is a ‘Groundhog Day’-style fever dream doomed to be repeated.

“Roughly two years after the White House first came up with the idea of discussing, for all of seven days, the pursuit of a bipartisan agreement to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges and broadband networks, President Trump more or less torpedoed those plans on Wednesday in a Rose Garden speech.”

CNN: “Like the Bermuda Triangle or Spinal Tap’s new drummer, the words ‘Infrastructure Week’ seem to be cursed. No fewer than seven times – including this very week – has Trump’s White House declared that its chosen theme of a week would be infrastructure – only to see those plans thwarted, often by the President himself.”

Trump was humiliated by his inability to deliver any infrastructure deal for the American people, so after he lost his reelection bid, he pathetically tried – and failed – to tank President Biden’s historic infrastructure bill that has since delivered billions to improve North Carolina.  

Politico: “Donald Trump tried and failed to pass an infrastructure bill so many times over the course of his presidency that his attempts were reduced to a punchline. Now out of office, Trump is trying to ensure that his successor, Joe Biden, suffers the indignity of the ‘infrastructure week’ jokes as well.

“The former president has sounded off repeatedly in the past week about the negotiations taking place between Senate Republicans and Democrats on the Hill and in the White House. He’s encouraged GOP lawmakers to abandon the talks and criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for even entertaining them. Senate Republicans have said, in interviews, that they have directly asked the former president not just to tone down his criticism but to actually support the infrastructure deal.”