National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Sunday that Democrats have stuffed a variety of non-coronavirus related material into a “very liberal-left” COVID-19 stimulus package.
“I don’t want to get overly political,” Kudlow told ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” “For Heaven’s sake … one-third of the Democratic proposals had absolutely nothing to do with COVID.”
“They’re talking about harvesting mail-in votes, mail-in votes themselves, no signatures, no ID, sending assistance to illegal aliens, letting felons out of jail. I mean it’s really a very liberal-left democratic wish list that had nothing to do with COVID.” (RELATED: Here Is What Republican Senators Say They Want In A Phase 4 Stimulus Package)
“If they can remove that stuff we might have better grounds on which to negotiate,” Kudlow said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday that the Democrats’ $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package was “a non-starter.” President Donald Trump has responded by issuing four executive orders to confront a pandemic that remains a threat to Americans’ fiscal and physical health.
Kudlow said Sunday that both Mnuchin and Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have exercise due diligence by negotiating with the Democratic leadership “every single day for long periods of time.” He said Republicans have offered support behind the scenes because “we want kids to go back to school.” (RELATED: ‘HEALS Act’ — McConnell Unveils Republicans Coronavirus Stimulus Package)
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The economic advisor said Republicans have tried to compromise but that Democratic financial demands continue to climb. Kudlow also praised the president’s record on fighting the coronavirus pandemic and cited the “massive testing program” as an example of effective policy.
“We’re testing virtually 1 million people per day … 60-65 million total tests — by far the largest in the world. Thankfully, by the way, with the distancing and with the masking and with the hygiene and with the testing … we’ve seen now the mitigation is working and the curves are flattening out in Texas and California and Florida. That’s a real good thing.”