Fox News anchor Bret Baier “set the record straight” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her role in delaying funding to small businesses devastated by the coronavirus.
“Let’s set the record straight, here,” Baier said. “Once they found out that the small-business pot was going to be dry, there was a clean bill to put more money in it. Nancy Pelosi did not go forward with that. Period. The end. Stop there. So, yes, they wanted to do other things, Democrats did. But to have an answer that says that it was Mitch McConnell who delayed is really political jujitsu.”
“Let’s set the record straight. Once Republicans found out the PPP was going to run dry, there was a clean bill to replenish it. Nancy Pelosi didn’t go for it. Period. So to say that the delay was Mitch McConnell’s fault is just political jiujitsu for Nancy Pelosi.” @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/YUwqxRTUsT
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) April 23, 2020
“So, when the number goes up 4.4 million on unemployment, there is a reason that it goes up that way,” Baier added. “And that delay is part of it.”
Pelosi has been widely criticized over the past few weeks for holding up coronavirus relief for about two weeks, demanding more money be added for healthcare, food stamps, and targeted funds for women and minorities.
Pelosi tried to downplay those criticisms Thursday, pointing the finger at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“I’m so proud that all of the bills we’re passing, as has been acknowledged, have been done in a bipartisan way,” Pelosi said on the House floor. “And the next bill will be as well. But let me just correct the record because the distinguished gentleman from Texas said we held up this bill, and I want to correct that record because nothing could be further from the truth, and perhaps he isn’t aware, but let me inform. And that is, two weeks ago, the distinguished secretary of the Treasury called me and said, ‘I need a quarter of a trillion dollars in 48 hours.’ ‘Oh, really? Well, I don’t know about that. Let’s see what we can do. Let’s see what we can do. Why do you need that?’”
Pelosi then broke down the different components of the bill and blamed McConnell for holding up hospital funding.
“And what did the distinguished leader on the Senate side, Mr. McConnell, say? … I think the states should go bankrupt,” Pelosi said of McConnell’s recent comments in an interview. “Oh, really? And not pay the healthcare workers, the public hospitals, first responders, and the rest. Oh, really? What made you think that was a good idea? It’s just more notionmongering to get attention, I guess.”
The House passed a new small-business spending package on Thursday, amounting to $484 billion, which now needs to be signed by President Trump to become law.
