Taking a cue from Trump, Fox politicizes the massive Potomac sewage spill

After reports came out that a collapsed sewer line dumped millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, Fox News took a cue from President Donald Trump and politicized the environmental disaster. Fox personalities began chastising environmentalist groups for their supposedly insufficient outrage about the spill; repeating Trump’s dubious claim that the disaster is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s fault; and criticizing the blame game among local officials and the federal government — a blame game Trump started and the network itself helped amplify.

According to USA Today, on January 19 a sewer line under the jurisdiction of DC Water — a federally regulated utility based in Washington — collapsed, damaging part of the Potomac Interceptor sewer system and sending over 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River. On January 23, pumps were installed to divert sewage away from the river, and according to USA Today, “no new sewer overflow has gone into the river since Jan. 29.” Emergency repairs could take weeks more, and the outlet noted that “nearly a month after the spill, Trump criticized the cleanup efforts — pointing a finger at Democrats and Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore, who is considered a rising star in his party.”