Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s last-minute defense bill veto could make him “the Grinch who stole Christmas.”
Trump made good on his promise Wednesday to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after Congress failed to address his concerns about Section 230 protections for social media platforms.
Green told CBS that Trump’s veto, followed by his return to Mar-a-Lago for the holidays, made him the Grinch. (RELATED: Gov. Cuomo Calls COVID ‘The Grinch,’ Tells People To Think Of COVID When They Hear Christmas Music)
“The president will be the Grinch who stole Christmas”: Rep. Al Green (D-TX) slammed Trump for vetoing a defense bill and derailing the COVID relief package before flying to Mar-a-Lago to “live in the lap of luxury.” https://t.co/CHfDm0ZGjn pic.twitter.com/FENh4EQptd
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 25, 2020
Green began by noting that if Congress did not have the votes to override Trump’s veto, the bill would go to the next Congress and they would be forced to start all over again.
“If this happens, the president will be the Grinch who stole Christmas. He will be the Grinch who damaged the military and put people in harm’s way and put lives at risk.” (RELATED: ‘No Limit’: House Democrat Says They May Try To Impeach Trump Multiple Times)
Green went on to say that Trump could have been a part of the negotiations leading up to the final vote on coronavirus relief aid – a bill that Trump also sent back to Congress, demanding that $600 direct stimulus payments be increased to $2,000 – but that he had chosen not to do so.
“The president waited, he allowed his surrogates to negotiate this, he didn’t complain until it was all finalized. I mean signed, sealed, and delivered to him. And at that point, he decided that he wanted to open the negotiations again,” Green explained, adding, “This says to me that the president is not a great dealmaker, he’s a great deal breaker.”
Green concluded by saying that Trump might be able to spend the holiday “in the lap of luxury” at Mar-a-Lago, but that didn’t stop others from suffering.