Last updated on January 8th, 2019 at 06:24 am
Trump told government workers who are living off of an average of $500 a week to adjust to not getting paid during his shutdown.
In the morning, Trump told government workers to adjust to not getting paid:
Trump tells government workers to adjust to not getting paid, as he claims they support his shutdown 100%. https://t.co/OJkQ1kwoSb pic.twitter.com/kfNNUzadWA
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 6, 2019
By the afternoon, Trump claimed that government workers care more about the border than they do having money for things like food and heat.
Trump said, “I think they will make an adjustment because they want to see the border taken care of. You know, government workers want to see the border taken care of. It affects them very dearly. They love our country, and they want to make sure that we have a strong border.”
Video:
Trump doubles down and tells government workers who make $500 a week to adjust to not getting paid because he wants a wall. pic.twitter.com/e9QsYgtNOr
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 6, 2019
As NBC Geoff Bennett pointed out, the average federal worker impacted by this shutdown makes $500 a week, so they don’t have any room to adjust:
The average government worker makes $500/week. They can’t “adjust.” Unless by adjust, Trump means homelessness and not eating. https://t.co/puEK8cwlEg pic.twitter.com/THJ4bsS3ds
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 6, 2019
Trump is telling people who live paycheck to paycheck to not eat because he wants a wall. These people aren’t suffering for America. They are struggling because Trump made a campaign promise that he can’t keep. The next time that Trump tries to pretend that he is some kind of blue-collar populist remember that the trust fund baby president has no idea what it is like to live on $500 a week and have your income snatched away.
You can’t adjust what you don’t have, and one of the few good things to come out of this shutdown is that Trump is showing how out of touch he is with the lives of ordinary people.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
