President Donald Trump is being criticized for more corruption after he issued the first vetoes of his second term on Monday.
Among them is a bipartisan bill that would have allocated funds to finish construction on Colorado’s Arkansas Valley Conduit. Upon completion, the project would have provided drinking water to 50,000 people across 39 communities.
Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters
But Trump has a grudge against Colorado, and that’s apparently more important than water access.
Trump has previously called for the release of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, who’s in prison for breaking into secure election systems. A believer in Trump’s conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen, Peters sought to rig the state’s results in his favor after he lost to former President Joe Biden.
Ahead of his veto, Trump said that the state would face “harsh measures” if Peters was not released. He issued a “symbolic” pardon of Peters earlier in December, but it was ineffective because she was convicted on state charges—not federal.
Now Trump is facing criticism across party lines for the vindictive action.
“This is payback because Colorado won’t bend to his corruption. It’s weak, it’s dangerous, and it’s unamerican,” Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado wrote on X.
Longtime Trump ally Rep. Lauren Boebert represents Colorado’s district where the pipeline is being built, and she supported the legislation in question.
“Nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people,” Boebert said in a statement.
Trump issued another veto that highlighted his vindictive streak.
Legislation that would have incorporated Osceola Camp, which is part of the Miccosukee Tribe, in Florida’s Everglades National Park, was vetoed. It also had backing from both parties in the state—including GOP Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Carlos Gimenez and Democratic Rep. Darren Soto.
President Donald Trump visits Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” in July.
In his statement justifying the action, Trump complained that the tribe “has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected.”
The tribe has sued Trump over his “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility in Florida, arguing in a legal filing that the construction of the facility was “unlawful.” The facility came under fire for its role in advancing Trump’s racist anti-immigrant agenda and for its incredibly harsh conditions.
In vetoing these bipartisan bills, Trump has demonstrated that he will run over even his fellow Republicans to back election conspiracies and bigoted anti-immigration policies.
