Media

CNN’s Michael Smerconish Calls Trump’s Push For $2,000 Stimulus Checks ‘The Most Effective Thing He’s Done’ Since The Election

(CNN screengrab)

Font Size:

CNN host Michael Smerconish called President Donald Trump’s last-minute push for $2,000 in direct payments to Americans “the most effective thing he’s done” since the November election.

Trump stated in a video Tuesday that he would not sign the recently passed coronavirus stimulus bill in its current form, demanding the extra cash along with the elimination of “wasteful items” from the bill.

CNN host Chris Cuomo brought Smerconish and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci in to discuss the latest developments on Tuesday night’s “Cuomo Prime Time.”

While Scaramucci predicted that Trump would ultimately sign the package when he realizes his veto would be overridden, Smerconish contended that he was “underestimating the president.”

WATCH:

“I don’t think the perception of him being the Grinch who stole Christmas is accurate,” said Smerconish. “I think that this is arguably, politically speaking, the most effective thing that he has done since losing the election. The American people aren’t going to understand the difference between the COVID relief bill and the omnibus spending bill.”

Smerconish contended that people would see the $600 as “chump change” compared to all the items in the bills.

“It is him frankly laying back on those arguments that first put him in office,” he said. “I mean, he’s the champion of the working person, and he wants two grand in everybody’s pocket. I think it’s effective for him.”

Disagreeing with Smerconish’s assessment, Scaramucci maintained that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would “completely embarrass him in the Senate.” (RELATED: Karl Rove Blasts Powell, Flynn: ‘The President Has Been So Ill-Served By This Crowd’)

“He doesn’t want that,” he said. “He’s making noises here, but he’ll sign that bill.”

“I’m only suggesting to you that it’s not black and white, that he does not necessarily come out of this politically speaking as a loser,” Smerconish added after his co-panelists pointed out some of Trump’s own preferred budget items.

While agreeing with his last-minute proposal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointed out the fact that Trump never once called for $2,000 during months of negotiations.

In a thread criticizing Trump for creating a “full-blown legislative crisis,” Politico’s Jake Sherman noted that Trump could have gotten the larger direct payments “if he was even remotely involved” in the process of developing the bill.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel