McEnany: Americans are strong and will get back on their feet
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Trump administration's coronavirus and economy response as states begin to reopen.
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday that while President Trump is ready for a “bounce-back” of the economy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems content with keeping American workers at home by delaying the passage of additional coronavirus relief stimulus.
“The Paycheck Protection Program which was just replenished, that funding starts again today so small business owners across the country would get a chance to get that money to pay their workers. It should’ve been here a week ago but, unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi delayed this,” McEnany told “America’s Newsroom.”
HOUSE PASSES $484B CORONAVIRUS SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF BILL, SENDS TO TRUMP
“[Pelosi] was out on late-night television, she was out eating ice cream as literally people were being potentially being laid off or worrying about their paychecks; so Nancy Pelosi, she won’t lay off the ice cream but she’s just fine with laying off workers and that’s a shame.”
McEnany’s comments came after Trump on Friday signed the nearly $500 billion “Phase 3.5” emergency interim coronavirus relief package into law for small businesses and hospitals across the country.
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The new legislation will deliver a $310 billion infusion to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a forgivable loan program that ran out of money last week amid skyrocketing demand from hurting small businesses. The Senate approved the legislation on Tuesday by voice vote.
The legislation passed 388 to five in the House, with one member voting present.
While both Republicans and Democrats supported the bill, they couldn't help but bash each other on the House floor in the hours leading up to the vote.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Pelosi of delaying the important aid for her additional demands at the cost of 4.4 million more Americans filing for unemployment benefits just last week, bringing the total up to more than 26 million unemployment claims so far since the coronavirus pandemic broke in the U.S.
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McEnany said that there should not have been a week of delay for small businesses to pay their workers and that it was “unacceptable.”
“It’s because of this president, because of PPP, that people are getting paid and it is important, I think, to juxtapose that against the delays of the Democrats to put some fire under them to get back to work,” McEnany said.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.