On Friday, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared on “The View,” and pushed back on claims made by co-host Joy Behar that Republican lawmakers only care about big business rather than helping the American people during the COVID-19 crisis.
First, co-host Sunny Hostin asked Christie about the dangers of opening “too soon,” and added: “Why aren’t Republicans trying to push through this stimulus bill that the Democrats have put forth if everyone’s so concerned about people?”
Christie responded by noting that experts differ in their assessments of how long it will take to create a vaccine and that the economy simply cannot remain closed indefinitely.
“There are steps we can take with wearing masks, with social distancing, with cleaning surfaces, with washing hands that will lower the rate of infection that occurred before we had shut [in],” Christie said.
The former governor continued, speaking about the latest stimulus package passed by Democrats in the House:
I absolutely believe there will be a bill – this has been, every one of these bills, each side has pushed for the things that they want. We are still distributing hundreds of billions of dollars from the last bill that has not even [been] put out there yet, and so both sides are going to negotiate on this, it’s the typical legislative process.
The Democrats want the things they want, the Republicans will want the things they want, and they will ultimately, I believe, come to a compromise as they have on the three bills before this.
At this point in the segment, co-host Joy Behar jumped in, suggesting that Republicans have cash for the wealthy and the military, but not for “actually helping people.”
“They always seem to have money to give tax breaks to rich people in this country or money to bolster the military, but when it comes to actually helping people, the Republicans don’t – all of a sudden, we don’t have any money! We don’t have any money!” Behar said.
The co-host tried to move on, and asked another question, but Christie went back to her previous comment, and blasted her characterization of Republicans:
Republicans voted overwhelmingly for all of the aid for small businesspeople across this country twice. Republicans voted overwhelmingly for the $1,200 checks that have gone to every one of the taxpayers out there who qualified under the program – the folks in our lower-middle class, middle class who needed that aid. Republicans have voted for aid to hospitals and frontline health care workers. So it’s unfair, Joy, to say that Republicans don’t support any of this stuff, and they only have money for big business. That’s a typical Democratic talking point.
“Then why is everybody crying that they have no money, they have no job and they have no money? Why is everybody upset, running out into the streets and defying the rule?” Behar replied. “Why? Tell me.”
Christie responded, saying that “people want their lives back.”
Behar interrupted, saying that people “want their jobs back.”
“They want their jobs back, not their lives. They’re saying they want their jobs back; they want food; they want to pay their rent; they want to pay their mortgages. They don’t have enough money for that. That’s what they’re crying about, and I don’t see the Republican Party helping them,” Behar said. “All they’re doing is blaming everybody else.”
Christie pushed back, saying:
That’s just wrong. I mean, it’s just absolutely wrong. You’re point of view, you’re welcome to it, but you’re not welcome to your own set of facts. The Republicans have voted to support all of those programs you just talked about – food programs, aid programs to people with direct checks to them, aid programs to small business, aid programs to frontline health workers and to hospitals. All of those things have gotten overwhelming, in fact unanimous, Republican support, as they’ve gotten unanimous Democratic support.
What people want are their lives back, and their lives, part of their lives, are their jobs and the things that they do every day. Part of what’s making people go crazy here is just not the fear of the virus, but it is also that people have been locked their homes now for over two months and they want to have – for those who are not in the vulnerable population – elderly or underlying health problems like asthma or diabetes or other respiratory problems, those people are at much lower risk, and when they take precautions like wearing masks, like temperature checks, like multiple hand washing, like cleaning of surfaces, all of those things can be done and can help to make it safer for those who want to go back to work to be able to go back to work.
The $3 trillion stimulus bill that was recently passed by House Democrats faces opposition from many Republicans because of some of its provisions, including but not limited to $1,200 payments to illegal immigrants who pay taxes, and $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service.
According to CNN, the bill “was approved by a vote of 208-199 despite opposition from Republicans as well as from some moderate and progressive Democrats.”
14 Democrats voted against it, and only one Republican voted for the bill.
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