Washington Post reporter Karen Tumulty falsely claimed Thursday that President Trump took House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s infamous “crumbs” comment “out of context.”
Republicans have slammed Pelosi for dismissing bonuses that companies have attributed to the tax cut bill as “crumbs.” Pelosi is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
While speaking at a Republican conference in West Virginia on Thursday, President Trump compared Pelosi’s comments to Hillary Clinton’s notorious “basket of deplorables” remark, as Tumulty’s piece noted:
“Does that make sense — deplorable and crumbs?” Trump asked during his speech to a congressional Republican retreat in West Virginia. “Those two words, they seem to have a resemblance. I hope it has the same meaning. But she called it ‘crumbs,’ when people are getting $2,000 and $3,000 and $1,000. That’s not crumbs — that’s a lot of money.
Tumulty claimed that Trump misrepresented Pelosi’s comment.
“In fact, Pelosi’s comment was taken out of context and did not refer to the overall effects of the new tax law. When she said it at a Jan. 11 news conference, it was as an answer to a reporter’s question about a recent spate of announcements that corporations have made attributing employee bonuses and wage increases to the new law,” Tumulty wrote.
Tumulty’s implication is that Trump portrayed Pelosi’s remarks as referring to the whole tax bill, rather than as corporate bonuses. But the event transcript shows that Trump was clearly referring to the bonuses.
“We got hit with these corporations giving tremendous bonuses to everybody that Nancy Pelosi called ‘crumbs’,” Trump said, immediately before comparing it to Clinton’s gaffe.
“That could be like deplorable, does that make sense? Deplorable and crumbs? Those two words, they seem to have a resemblance. I hope it has the same meaning. But she called it ‘crumbs,’ when people are getting $2,000 and $3,000 and $1,000. That’s not crumbs — that’s a lot of money.”
In addition to the bonuses, 90 percent of workers are expected to see an increase in their take-home pay in 2018 as a result of the GOP tax bill.
WATCH Pelosi’s Original ‘Crumbs’ Comment: