United States President Donald Trump has sharply criticized the law on equal access to high-speed Internet, calling it "racist" and "absolutely unconstitutional," and threatened to repeal it immediately. This is reported by The New York Times, reports UNN.
Details
It is noted that the Digital Equity Act was aimed at helping various groups, including veterans, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and is part of a major infrastructure initiative worth $1 trillion. President Joe Biden signed it at the beginning of his presidency.
However, Donald Trump called this law "racist" because it is also aimed at improving Internet access for ethnic and racial minorities. On social media, the head of the White House wrote that these are "payments based on race."
In fact, the law hardly mentions race, only noting that racial minorities may be covered by the program. At the same time, it contains a non-discrimination provision that prohibits the exclusion of individuals from the program "on the basis of race, ethnicity, skin color, religious beliefs, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability."
According to The New York Times, the Digital Equity Act, developed by Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, provides $60 million in grants to states and territories to develop plans to ensure equal access to the Internet, as well as $2.5 billion to implement these plans. Some of the funding has already been distributed to states, including conservative rural regions such as Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa and Kansas.
In addition
The Trump administration proposed cutting non-military spending by 23% and increasing defense spending by 13%. This is Trump's first budget since returning to the US presidency.