President Donald Trump attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus bill, accusing her of making it part of “an agenda” that Democrats have “been trying to get passed” for years during an interview Tuesday.
The Senate failed to pass a procedural closure vote on phase-three of the coronavirus stimulus bill Sunday and Monday. Pelosi said she will halt negotiations to push her own version of the bill, which would cause a delay in proceedings. Trump slammed the decision and Pelosi’s bill during an interview on a Fox News town hall.
“I canceled the deal last night, I said ‘I’m not gonna sign that deal,’ because Nancy Pelosi came in and put a lot of things in the deal that had nothing to do with the workers,” Trump explained. “It had to do with an agenda that they’ve been trying to get passed for 10 years. And, I came in, I told [Vice President] Mike [Pence], I told a lot of people, ‘there’s no way I’m signing that deal.'”
“I was getting calls from [Republican Louisiana Sen.] John Kennedy, from [Republican Nebraska Sen.] Ben Sasse, from many many people … I was getting calls from a lot of different people, saying ‘this deal … is terrible, what they’ve done.'”
WATCH:
The president noted that they “almost had a deal” with the coronavirus stimulus bill originally presented to the Senate. He commented on the additions Pelosi’s bill has that aren’t aimed at helping Americans regarding the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“They took a deal, you know we almost had a deal the day before and it was between [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch [McConnell] and it was really a good solid deal,” Trump said. “All of a sudden they start throwing all of the little Green New Deal stuff in, right? And the boardrooms, what they look like, and we wan’t green energy, we want all this stuff … they had things in there that were terrible.”
The phase-three Senate bill would give $1,200 to every American who makes under $75,000 annually. Couples would receive $2,400 and every child would get $500. Pelosi’s coronavirus bill, as Trump noted, pushes numerous provisions that aren’t related to the novel coronavirus. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi’s Coronavirus Bill Gives $300 Million To Refugees, Migrants)