Sean Duffy Tells Calif. Tomato-Throwing Protesters Where to Direct Their 'Train to Nowhere' Anger

The California High Speed Rail boondoggle has been going on for many, many years with taxpayers in that state as well as in the entire country being on the hook for endless spending with no end in sight.

This week Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley was with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to announce something that makes the Democrats have fits: Investigate exactly how taxpayer money is being spent, in this case on the "train to nowhere" in California:

Today I joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to announce an investigation into CA High-Speed Rail, which could claw back $4.3 billion in federal funds. Amusingly, a few protestors showed up in support of the boondoggle.

The High-Speed Rail disaster is the worst… pic.twitter.com/0sHYSVjCJc
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) February 20, 2025

Here's the full post from Rep. Kiley:

Today I joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to announce an investigation into CA High-Speed Rail, which could claw back $4.3 billion in federal funds. Amusingly, a few protestors showed up in support of the boondoggle.
The High-Speed Rail disaster is the worst public infrastructure failure in U.S. history. It is a blight on our landscape and an embarrassment to our state. It is a symbol for the decline of modern California, showcasing political ineptitude on an epic scale.
It exemplifies the failures of transparency and accountability, of governance and planning, of vision and leadership, of competence and common sense that have turned the greatest state in the country into the most popular state to leave.
It represents the disregard for taxpayer dollars, for property rights, for democratic accountability, for economic reality, that have caused our beautiful state to lead the nation in all the wrong ways.
And it highlights the small-mindedness of our politicians, who think of themselves as visionaries for plowing ahead with a 20th century project that won’t be complete until the 22nd century, at best.
The failure of High-Speed Rail represents all that has gone wrong in modern California. And that is precisely why this is such a hopeful day; the end of this ill-fated project will serve as a new beginning.
We are turning the page in California. A coalition for common sense is ascendant.

After my husband @SecDuffy & GOP lawmakers in CA called out @GavinNewsom & Dems for waste & corruption in the $16 billion train to nowhere, radical protesters pelted @RepLaMalfa & others w/ tomatoes. Luckily, Sean & I were spared. Proud of how Sean & the other Republicans… https://t.co/TPwHk8s2FO pic.twitter.com/4m3VWm7QJT
— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) February 21, 2025

The protesters also chanted "build the rail," without realizing they were pointing out the whole problem. What they really meant was "keep the money coming no matter what."

Secretary Duffy had some reality checks for the people who seem just fine with endless billions being dumped into a project that looks like it'll never be finished:

The questions these angry protestors should be asking are:
- Who didn’t build this rail?
- Which consultant made money off of it?
- Which politician’s husband got rich off of this project? pic.twitter.com/Lghkks3YcK
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 20, 2025

Over a decade and $16B of taxpayer dollars wasted with zero results on this rail project. If protestors want to shout at someone, they should direct their outrage at Governor Newsom and complicit Democrats who have enabled this fraud and waste for a train to nowhere. @USDOT will… pic.twitter.com/KsXKhYczll
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 20, 2025

Yeah, these protesters should maybe have a chat with the state's governor.

Protestors shouting at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as he believes that CA has mismanaged the High Speed Rail project.
Me thinks shouting “build the rail” should be directed at the Governor but hey 🤷🏼‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/eZphsCRKpz
— OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) February 20, 2025

California Democrats don't want anybody looking into where and how all this money has been spent, not unlike DC Dems who don't want DOGE doing audits.

This needed to be investigated. Thank you!
— SIPPING THE TEA ☕️ (@MaryForbes14) February 20, 2025

If Democrats aren’t to blame for the massive failure of California’s high speed rail system, who is? https://t.co/KaEd0WdekL
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) February 21, 2025

They'll try to blame the Trump administration for merely looking into it.