Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell mocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a Senate floor speech on Monday over comments that Pelosi made last week about a treatment for COVID-19 involving cannabis.
A provision of the Democratic coronavirus relief bill from last week was tied to marijuana and would have allowed legal marijuana businesses the ability to access banking services.
“I don’t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this,” Pelosi said. “This is a therapy that has proven successful.”
While speaking about how Democrats “are blocking” the Senate’s current proposals for the next round of loans, McConnell said, “The Democratic leaders want the entirety of their massive far-left wish list, all of it.”
“Speaker Pelosi is still agitating for strange, new special interests carve-outs for the marijuana industry and even claiming they were COVID-related,” McConnell continued. “She said that with respect to this virus, marijuana is, quote, ‘a therapy that is proven successful.’ You can’t make this up. I hope she shared her breakthrough with Dr. Fauci.”
WATCH:
WATCH: @senatemajldr:
Pelosi is calling for "new special interest carve-outs for [marijuana] … She said that with respect to this virus, marijuana is, 'A therapy that is proven successful.' You can't make this up. I hope she shared her breakthrough with Dr. Fauci." pic.twitter.com/QoGg63RkNF
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 4, 2020
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Another day has come and gone in this once in a century national battle for our country. Yesterday more of our neighbors had to say goodbye to loved ones whose lives were claimed by this virus. Yesterday more doctors and more nurses worked long shifts on the front lines fighting to heal strangers and limit a national death toll that now exceeds 150,000. Yesterday more workers brought home pink slips. More main street businesses saw the end of their P.P.P. lifelines fast approaching. Yesterday more laid off Americans filed new claims for unemployment insurance or laid awake wondering about next month’s rent. Yesterday more school officials wondered what to tell parents, students, and teachers about September.
So what happened here in the capitol yesterday, madam president? With the American people fighting all these battles and more, what did the speaker of the house and the Democratic leader do with yet another day of deliberations? Yet again it was the exact same refrain. It never seems to change. We’re feeling optimistic. We spoke very politely to the administration but we’re still nowhere close on substance. It’s now been more than a week since Senate Republicans released a serious proposal for another major rescue package. A trillion dollars for kids, jobs, and health care. But Democrats are blocking it all. It’s like they expect applause for merely keeping a civil tone with the president’s team, never mind they’re still obstructing any action for our country.
Senate Republicans want to revive a federal add-on to unemployment insurance which the Democratic leader would not let us extend last week. We want to send another round of direct checks straight into families’ pockets. We want to supply generous new incentives for rehiring American workers and workplace safety. We want to send historic money to schools for reopening and invest even more in testing and vaccine research. We want legal protections so schools, churches, charities, and businesses can reopen.
The Democrats say they want many of the same things. I certainly believe that many of my Democratic colleagues who serve as ranking members want many of the same things and could easily find common ground with our chairmen if the Democratic leader would let them talk. But instead we’ve gotten a full week of the speaker of the house and the Democratic leader shutting out all of their own members and refusing to move an inch, an inch off of demands that everyone knows are outlandish. The Democratic leaders want the entirety of their massive far-left wish list, all of it.
Speaker Pelosi is still agitating for strange, new special interests carve-outs for the marijuana industry and even claiming they were COVID related. She said that with respect to this virus, marijuana is, quote, ‘a therapy that is proven successful.’ You can’t make this up. I hope she shared her breakthrough with Dr. Fauci.