PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders again of rejecting a “skinny” stimulus bill in order to hurt his chances of getting reelected.
Trump said Pelosi and Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “don’t want to pass a stimulus bill because they think that helps me in the election,” according to CBS News’ White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ push to approve a slimmed down $500 billion coronavirus relief bill.
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Trump also claimed, again, that the U.S. is on the path to economic recovery, saying, “we’re in a super-V.”
Both of Trump’s remarks reiterated points he made earlier this month.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump said Democrats are reluctant to strike a deal on a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks because they believe a bad economy will help Democratic nominee Joe Biden win the election.
“They don’t want to make a deal. I don’t have to meet with them in order to be turned down,” Trump said of Democratic leaders.
“They think if the country does as badly as possible, even though a lot of people are being hurt, that’s good for the Democrats.”
The House of Representatives in May passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, but the Republican-led Senate has not approved it, and negotiations are stalled.
Trump touted a “super-V” economic recovery on September 1, before leaving Andrews Air Force Base for Kenosha, Wisconsin.
He said the stock market was at the “all-time highest” and that the economy was doing “very well.”
“You look at the V, now I think it’s a super-V,” the president said.
Trump as well as White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow have described the economy recovery as V-shaped, meaning a fast rebound that will restore the country’s economic health completely.
However, some experts have said the economy appears to be slowing, in part because some federal aid has expired.
“There’s not much evidence to suggest that there is going to be this massive bringing people back on the payrolls,” Daniel Sternberg, head of data science at payroll and human resources company Gusto, told The Wall Street Journal.
On Thursday, before boarding Air Force One for a campaign rally in Saginaw, Michigan, Trump also criticized the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
Trump said that if Whitmer opens Michigan’s businesses, schools, auto plants and Big Ten football, the state will have a terrific economy in 2021.
