MSNBC host Tiffany Cross characterized the truck driving industry as “a lot of white men” who are “aggressive” and “overwhelmingly voted for” former president Donald Trump.
During a segment on Sunday, Cross remarked that she is worried for her brother, who is a truck driver, because it “feels like a dangerous industry.”
“This is an industry populated by a lot of white men over the age of 55,” Cross said. “This group of people overwhelmingly voted for Trump. Some people have talked about aggressive truck drivers cutting them off or not being helpful.”
She then asked her guest, Cross Country Truck Driving School owner and president Pamela Day, what the industry could do to be more “welcoming” to drivers of color.
“So, obviously, the more populated it is with people of color I think you’ll see less of that,” she claimed. “How can you encourage people to come and disrupt this space when it seems a bit unwelcoming?”
Day acknowledged that she “ran into lots of racism” while she was a truck driver, but claimed adding more women to the industry would help solve that problem.
“The women will be able to close this deficit if we just let them know,” she said.
Several commentators pointed out that if any pundit made a claim similar to Cross’s about an industry dominated by minorities, they would be called racist:
We need to just be honest about the reality that the American Left openly despises white people generally, white men specifically, and blue-collar white men most of all… https://t.co/jrUYhsg708
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 14, 2021
The American Trucking Association also fired back, noting that nearly half of all truck drivers on the road are minorities:
Actually, 41.5% of truck drivers in this country are minorities. Trucking delivers 72.5% of everything… except BS—we leave that to @TiffanyDCross. https://t.co/ktyNaOBoiq
— American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) November 14, 2021
