President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Congress to approve $2,000 stimulus checks rather than the $600 payments called for in the approved $900 billion stimulus package. The move unsurprisingly sparked plenty of buzz on social media from Americans who have been waiting eight months for additional relief, with the first (and so far only) $1,200 payments having begun being distributed in mid-April.
Trump made the request in a video shared to his Twitter account just a day after both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the bill in floor votes, overcoming one major hurdle in efforts to pass legislation before the end of the year. Ahead of the bill arriving on the president’s desk for his signature, however, Trump indicated he was not yet willing to approve it. In the nearly 10-minute-long video, the president called the bill a “disgrace” and urged congressional lawmakers to bring even more aid to Americans by upping the amount of the stimulus payments.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Statement by Donald J. Trump, The President of the United States
Full Video: https://t.co/avKfYctPAD pic.twitter.com/i8IMLhH53Q
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2020
“It’s called the COVID relief bill, but it has almost nothing to do with COVID,” Trump said in part. “I’m asking Congress to amend this bill and increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple.”
The remarks immediately sparked a flurry of responses on Twitter as lawmakers who had just hours earlier voted on the bill issued statements of their own. While many Americans would be eager to receive a payment more than triple in price than the ones approved by Congress, some seemed to believe Trump had waited too long to make this request, others wondering if there was an ulterior motive to the demand. Scroll down to see how Twitter is reacting.
Just so we’re all clear: DEMs wanted $1,200 instead of the $600 the GOP fought for.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) December 23, 2020
Now trump says $2,000?
It’s not even real.
They won’t do it.
And then nobody gets shit.
It’s all a stupid game to them.
For once, I actually agree with Trump on this issue. People absolutely need more help than $600.00.
— RSM-MSc. (@becchocolate) December 23, 2020
I vote democratic and I agree with Trump $600 is a low number and there are people who need more than that and don’t know when they will be able to go back to work if at all.
— Kirst Ousley (@KirstOusley) December 23, 2020
I actually agree with a lot of what he said about the low checks and amount of spending going to foreign countries but geez, he waits until the 11th hour to say something??
— HR GRL (@hrgrl79) December 23, 2020
Now Trump wants to give us $2000 in stimulus checks. Where the fuck was he when the Democrats were trying to do this months ago? Oh right, he’s been busy trying to overthrow the the election that he fucking lost. Trust me, he doesn’t all of a sudden give a shit!
— Amy Lynn 🍭🌊 (@AmyAThatcher) December 23, 2020
He waited till the last minute after getting feedback from peo. Never said this when the bill was getting drafted, too busy pardoning peo and looking out for himself before he leaves.
— Nasty1 vote like us black women (@sweetteatime55) December 23, 2020
Why didn’t he say that while they were writing the bill in the first place? Now they have to go back and start all over again.
— CujoTheKitten (@cujothekitten) December 23, 2020
Also, does he know the difference between the covid bill and the omnibus bill?
Hmmm…..don’t know how to feel about this. But $2,000 as opposed to $600, looks very much more helpful for families struggling to make end’s meet…Kudos to President Trump for his push to amend this bill.
— raj reddy (@rajareddy41) December 23, 2020
Don’t let him fool you thinking it’s about raising our stimulus check. It’s all about stalling it and removing what he deems as “wasteful “!
— Suzanne McCarthy (@504Mom) December 23, 2020
MIA and now he wants to be involved?
— db (@burgessjunction) December 23, 2020
The president had ample time to insist that $2,000 was in the original bill. He didn’t do that intentionally so he could then get up and grand stand that he’s out for the interests of the American people. News flash. He cares nothing about any of us.
— David Kelly (@DKelly71170) December 23, 2020
He’s right though. What good is $600 going to do to help Americans during this pandemic? It’s an insult, especially with so many working so hard just to keep food on the table.
— 🤓 🏂🏿 ✊🏾 Jess ✊🏾 🏂🏿 🤓 (@XGamesJESS) December 23, 2020
Typical Trump, completely absent throughout the negotiations, no input whatsoever and then blows up the deal to showboat. If he really gave a damn about larger checks he would have said so before the bill reached his desk for signing.
— Chris Hawks (@CHawksRun) December 23, 2020
Hate to say it but the President is 100% right here.
— bumilorian (@Bumi_Bandias) December 23, 2020
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