Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:53 pm
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi issued a statement putting the blame on Senate Republicans and Mitch McConnell after Trump lied about Democrats blocking disaster relief funds.
Pelosi calls out Trump’s lie
Pelosi responded to Trump’s lie in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
This week, House Democrats are once again advancing a robust, $17.2 billion disaster relief package, which adds an additional $3 billion for communities, businesses and farms hit by the historic flooding in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and across the Midwest as well as for Southern states devastated by recent tornadoes. This critical funding builds on the emergency disaster relief that House Democrats passed in January for hard-hit communities across the country, despite House Republicans overwhelmingly opposing this urgently-needed funding.
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Sadly, Senate Republicans have been more committed to hurting our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico than healing communities everywhere. Meanwhile, the President has doubled down on Republicans’ callousness, deliberately delaying assistance payments to Puerto Rico and inflicting more needless suffering on the Americans who are still reeling from his Administration’s disastrous response to the hurricanes. And so, hard-hit communities from the Florida panhandle to the Midwest are stuck waiting for the GOP-controlled Senate to pass a bill to help them.
We are now just weeks away from another hurricane season and Republicans continue to delay and play politics. When disaster strikes, all Americans deserve to know that their government is there for them. Democrats are taking strong and desperately-needed action to help every American family hit by disaster heal and rebuild – now, and during the long road to recovery.
Trump is using disaster relief as a racial dog whistle
Trump’s Florida rally was full of attacks against Puerto Rico that carried racist overtones and messaging. The Senate Republicans are taking their lead from Trump. The president’s strategy is to try and divide the country on the basis of white versus everyone else. He used his rally in Florida to make his white supporters feel like he was delivering for them while Democrats were trying to give their money to the brown people in Puerto Rico.
The rhetoric is ugly, nasty, and these lies harken back to the same language that Republicans used to appeal to white voters during the Obama presidency.
Trump lied, and Nancy Pelosi made sure that America knows that the blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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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
