‘Wait, Woah, Woah, Woah!’ Stephen Miller and Jake Tapper Spar on CNN Over Trump’s Spending Freeze
CNN host Jake Tapper clashed with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s government spending freeze.
Defending Trump’s order to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending – which was blocked by U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan on Tuesday – Miller declared, “President Trump, when he said ‘drain the swamp,’ he meant it. And yes, so those kinds of spending programs are going to be put under review.”
Tapper responded:
Okay. I don’t think anybody’s taking issue with if you find money that is being disbursed in an inappropriate way, halting it. I think what the confusion is is this seemed to a lot of groups and a lot of states – Republicans, Democrats, independents – like a very sweeping order and there is confusion. I just want to make sure I understand. So anybody out there that provides school lunches, anybody out there–
“There’s zero impact on public benefit programs, full stop, as OMB has made clear,” Miller interrupted. “But I want to really drill down on this, Jake, because it’s so important. There’s two million employees in the federal government. Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far-left, left-wing.”
Tapper protested, “I don’t know that to be a fact.”
“Well, I’ll give you a great example,” Miller continued. “We looked at USAID as an example. 98%– 98% of the workforce either donated to Kamala Harris or another left-wing candidate. Just as an example.”
Tapper replied, “Okay, but demonizing an entire workforce as having a–”
Miller then shouted, “Wait. Woah, woah, woah, woah! Did you just say that saying someone voted for Kamala Harris is demonizing them?”
As the White House deputy chief of staff burst into laughter, Tapper shot back, “No, your suggestion is that there is a bias.”
“But you used the word demonizing,” said Miller. “You just said that I’m demonizing somebody by saying they voted for Kamala Harris.”
“Let’s get back on track,” urged Tapper.
Miller refused to move on, declaring, “I am on track. Let me stay on track. What I’m saying to you is this. There are 2 million employees in the federal government. They’re overwhelmingly left of center.”
He concluded, “The American people voted for dramatic change implemented by Donald Trump, so it is essential for him to get control of government, to establish a whole of government process for Donald Trump’s political appointees to review discretionary grants of spending for pet projects that are not directed by Congress.”
Watch above via CNN.
