Chao: Trump tapped into ‘a strain of anxiety,’ ‘fear’

President Trump’s Transportation secretary says he tapped into “a strain of anxiety” and “fear” during the campaign that helped catapult him to victory.

Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and ran the Labor Department under former President George W. Bush, told USA Today that American workers are likely more worried about the economic impact of new technologies than the effect of trade policies.

“He obviously has touched a chord with the American people, many of whom did not feel comfortable saying that they were for him as president, but as we saw in the election there were many, many people who were for him,” Chao said in her first sit-down interview since becoming Transportation secretary.

“I thought that he had tapped into something, a strain of anxiety, of fear, of vulnerability that somehow nobody else did.”

{mosads}There is increasing concern among truckers and workers in other industries that their jobs may eventually be replaced by self-driving cars, while some worry about the potential dangers of the rapidly emerging technology.

The Trump administration will have a pivotal role in overseeing the development and deployment of driverless vehicles. But Chao said Silicon Valley should also work to help alleviate some of the public’s concerns.

“For a lot of people, the rapid pace of technology is making them feel alienated and unconnected to other people, which is why these communities on-line are just thriving,” Chao said. “You take it as second nature, but for much of what you do, people do not understand.”

Chao, who came to the U.S. as a young child on a freight ship from Taiwan, said she hopes Trump hasn’t exacerbated fears about immigrants.

“There are bad people coming across the borders — I’m not saying everybody, but there are bad people coming across and they want to do us harm,” she said. “We’re talking about, how do we protect the borders, protect our people, and yet still try to absorb people who want to be Americans?”

Chao will be instrumental in helping Trump advance his promised $1 trillion infrastructure package, which is taking a back seat to other GOP priorities like health care and tax reform for now.

Trump remains committed to boosting infrastructure spending, according to Chao, despite his budget that proposes a 13 percent cut to the Department of Transportation, which she called “a message document.” 

“Throughout the whole government, the administration wanted to give a message that things were not going to be done as usual and that there would be different priorities,” Chao said. 

But she also said that “a lot” of the proposed Transportation cuts would be restored, by adding the money to different programs.