The Left can’t catch a break. And Trump is grinning ear-to-ear.
Now President Trump is laughing in the face of Democrats for making one major mistake.
Trump Admin Delivers World Cup Transit Triumph After Democrats Bet Against America
President Donald Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is taking a well-earned victory lap after a wildly successful FIFA World Cup tournament proved wrong the legion of left-wing critics who spent months predicting American infrastructure would collapse under the pressure.
Millions of fans flocked to American stadiums this year, putting enormous strain on federal, state and local transportation networks. Yet aided by more than $100 million in DOT infrastructure investment to host cities, the tournament went off without a hitch, prompting Duffy to call out the doomsayers who bet against the country.
“The Left was praying for an American transit disaster as we hosted the most important international sporting event in modern history,” Duffy told Fox News Digital. “They were wrong, and President Trump was right.”
Democrats’ Doom-and-Gloom Predictions Fall Flat
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., had accused the Trump administration in April of endangering World Cup fans by “systematically dismantling security agencies, delaying critical security assistance, and initiating a war with Iran,” claiming the moves left the Department of Homeland Security “woefully unprepared to accomplish its mission.”
Gallego went further, warning that “if state and local officials do not trust that federal employees will coordinate in lockstep and operate as partners, they will be unable to protect their communities—increasing threat risk and compromising Americans’ safety in the process.” He added that “this self-imposed chaos extends to the Trump administration’s management of federal departments and agencies.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., piled on ahead of the tournament, claiming that “Trump cares more about being on international TV at midfield on match day than actually hosting successful games.”
Even legacy media outlets joined the pile-on. The Atlantic ran a piece titled “Another Way America Will Choke at the World Cup,” predicting that “in the coming months, America’s patchwork railway system will be similarly challenged—and its weaknesses exposed—across all 11 U.S. sites of World Cup matches.”
Nathaniel Sizemore, a DOT spokesperson, told Fox News Digital that it was “the Left’s TDS [Trump derangement syndrome]” that “put them in the absurd position of praying for an American transit disaster.”
Record-Breaking Numbers Prove the Critics Wrong
With the tournament now over, the results speak for themselves. DOT said its $100.3 million in federal funding to host cities helped local transit systems accommodate record-breaking numbers of riders nationwide.
Atlanta saw more than 2 million riders use public transit to get to matches, fan fests, and other events, with match-day ridership reaching up to three times the typical average. In Seattle, more than 1.1 million combined riders used city public transit during the first two matches alone, and on July 6 the light rail system accommodated 309,000 riders, shattering the previous single-day record of 220,000.
Philadelphia, which also hosted this year’s MLB All-Star Game, saw an average of 27,000 riders using public transit per match, while the city’s PHLASH bus service recorded a 500 percent increase in ridership. Kansas City set a one-day record for streetcar riders at 48,260 on June 27, and Los Angeles saw a 598 percent increase in rider taps on World Cup match day compared to a typical Friday. In San Francisco, an average of more than 38,000 fans moved to and from matches using public transit, outpacing Super Bowl LX’s numbers by nearly 8,000.
Even outlets that spent months bashing the administration were forced to eat their words. Vox had run a piece titled “The World Cup has a Trump problem,” accusing the president of “actively hindering” the tournament through his “hostility to all immigrants … especially to non-white ones.” But ahead of the final match, Vox conceded that “the nation’s widely expected World Cup public transit meltdown has simply not materialized,” adding that “to the surprise of pretty much everyone, US cities have managed to absorb the influx of fans with relative ease, even under the pressure of record ridership en route to stadiums, watch parties, and fan zones.”
Duffy said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome at all.
“Whether they flew, took passenger rail, hopped on public transit, or hit the open road, Americans and visitors alike saw the best of our nation over the last month,” he told Fox News Digital.
He added that “from the FTA’s investment into local public transit to the FAA’s work keeping our skies safe, we were proud to help FIFA fans get to the games safely and on time.”
