Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' team hit back at comments made by former President Donald Trump on the controversial issue of possibly storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Referring to DeSantis, Trump told a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday that "DeSanctimonious voted to fund Yucca Mountain as a dumping ground for nuclear waste." This "affects your whole state," Trump then added in a clip shared to Twitter by MAGA War Room, a pro-Trump account.
In response, DeSantis War Room, the Florida governor's "rapid response Twitter operation" according to its bio, wrote Saturday that the former president was "peddling hypocritical Democrat talking points yet again."
"As president, Trump put the Yucca waste project in his budget 3 years in a row," DeSantis War Room tweeted.
Trump peddling hypocritical Democrat talking points yet again — as president, Trump put the Yucca waste project in his budget 3 years in a row. https://t.co/0AD0xZ0Eym
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) July 9, 2023
Storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, a volcanic ridge around 100 miles from Las Vegas, has long proved a contentious issue. In the late 1980s, Congress declared Yucca Mountain to be the country's best choice for a permanent nuclear waste repository, but Nevada residents and politicians have consistently pushed back against plans for the facility.
If the repository is built at Yucca, a tunnel complex would run around 1,000 feet below the summit of the mountain above an aquifer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Trump administration initially looked to push through plans to store spent nuclear fuel at the proposed facility after they were shelved during former President Barack Obama's time in office.
Then-Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said the government had "a moral and national security obligation to come up with a long-term solution, finding the safest repositories available."
"I understand this is a politically sensitive topic for some, but we can no longer kick the can down the road," Perry said in June 2017.
In a tweet from February 2020, Trump appeared to reverse his administration's original position, writing: "Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions. My Administration is committed to exploring innovative approaches."
However, this came after three consecutive budgets put forward by Trump called for the restart of the licensing process for Yucca, earmarking around $120 million in each package.
Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions – my Administration is committed to exploring innovative approaches – I’m confident we can get it done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2020
Between 2013 and 2018, DeSantis supported the Yucca Mountain project going ahead during his time in the House of Representatives, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in March.
Meanwhile during his speech in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump took several swipes at DeSantis, with a number of remarks drawing cheers from the crowd.
"I'm not a big fan of his and he's highly overrated," the former president told his audience, according to The Guardian.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign team via email for comment.
