Far-left Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) rushed to falsely claim credit for President Donald Trump announcing on Tuesday night that he wanted the $600 stimulus checks beefed up to $2,000.
“Let’s do it. @RashidaTlaib and I already co-wrote the COVID amendment for $2,000 checks, so it’s ready to go. Glad to see the President is willing to support our legislation,” Ocasio-Cortez claimed. “We can pass $2k checks this week if the Senate GOP agrees to stand down.”
“Me and @AOC have the amendment ready,” Tlaib said. “Send the bill back, and we will put in the $2,000 we’ve been fighting for that your party has been blocking.”
However, Trump made no reference to what they proposed and, in fact, slammed Democrats for the games that they played before the election when it came to a stimulus bill.
“Throughout the summer, Democrats cruelly blocked COVID relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left-wing agenda and influence the election,” Trump said in a video that he posted to his Twitter account on Tuesday night. “Then, a few months ago, Congress started negotiations on a new package to get urgently needed help to the American people. It’s taken forever. However, the bill they are planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated.”
Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also appeared to try to give Democrats credit for Trump wanting the larger stimulus checks, claiming on Twitter that Trump has “at last” finally “agree to $2,000,” painting the impression that he gave in to their demands.
However, Pelosi yesterday praised a $900 billion that gave out $600 checks to Americans as “significant,” which comes after she rejected a $1.8 trillion offer from the administration before the election that CNBC said included stimulus checks of $1,200 for adults and $1,000 per child.
Trump slammed the checks, which he said were not large enough, and slammed billions of dollars that were included in a separate spending bill that was rolled in with the coronavirus stimulus bill.
CNBC reported that the foreign aid provisions were included in a $1.4 trillion bill to keep the government funded that was paired with the coronavirus stimulus bill. “Trump did not threaten a veto in the video, and he had been expected to sign the legislation into law, along with the bill to keep the government open,” CNBC noted. “The legislation passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof majorities.”
“Despite all of this wasteful spending and much more, the $900 billion package provides hard-working taxpayers with only $600 each in relief payments and not enough money is given to small businesses and in particular restaurants, whose owners have suffered so grievously,” Trump said. “Congress found plenty of money for foreign countries, lobbyists, and special interests while sending the bare minimum to the American people who need it. It wasn’t their fault, it was China’s fault, not their fault.”
“I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple,” Trump continued. “I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package.”