Trump calls Democratic demands 'ridiculous' as blame traded over virus
aid stalemate
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[August 13, 2020]
By Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump accused congressional Democrats on Wednesday of not wanting to
negotiate over a U.S. coronavirus aid package because he was refusing to
go along with "ridiculous" spending requests unrelated to the pandemic.
Trump's comments came after top Republican and Democratic negotiators
traded blame for a five-day lapse in talks over relief legislation.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trump's chief negotiator, disputed a
statement from the two top Democrats in Congress that Republicans had
sought more talks but refused any movement on their initial $1 trillion
offer, which is less than a third of what the Democratic-controlled
House of Representatives passed in a measure in May.
"An overture was made by Secretary Mnuchin to meet and he made clear
that ... the White House is not budging from their position concerning
the size and scope of a legislative package," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.
"We have again made clear to the administration that we are willing to
resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously,"
they said in the statement.
Mnuchin in response claimed Pelosi "was unwilling to meet to continue
negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at
least $2 trillion."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump zeroed in on Democratic
requests to support mail-in voting for the November elections and the
U.S. Postal Service. Trump has frequently said mail-in voting would lead
to widespread fraud, a notion not supported by data.
"Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are holding the American people hostage
over money for their radical left-wing agenda that the country doesn't
want and won't accept," he said.
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President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) pandemic response at the White House in
Washington, U.S., August 12, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
"The bill's not going to happen because they don't even want to talk
about it, because we can't give them the kind of ridiculous things
that they want that have nothing to do with the China virus," Trump
said.
Schumer last week said Democrats had suggested the White House
negotiators meet halfway. The $1 trillion proposal by Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met immediate opposition both from
Democrats and some of his fellow Republicans, who are opposed to
additional spending.
The pandemic has taken a particularly heavy toll on the United
States, where it has killed more than 164,000 people, more than any
other country. Millions of U.S. workers have lost jobs, and the
expiration last month of $600 in weekly supplemental federal
unemployment benefits is expected to take a further toll.
Talks on a new package broke down last Friday. Sticking points
include the size of an extended unemployment benefit, aid to state
and local governments, and money for schools to reopen.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that Americans
divide blame pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans.
(This story has been refiled to fix typo in headline)
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey in Washington;
Additional reporting by David Lawder and Susan Cornwell in
Washington; Writing by David Morgan and Tim Ahmann; Editing by
Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler)
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