Bernie Sanders Slams Trump’s ‘Unbelievably Cruel’ Handling of Covid Relief: ‘You Can’t Diddle Around’ While People Are Suffering

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blasted President Donald Trump for upending Congress’ spending negotiations while Americans need immediate support from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sanders spoke to ABC’s Jon Karl on This Week, where he was asked where does the country go from here now that Trump is demanding stimulus checks of $2,000 after weeks of Congressional negotiations for $600. Sanders answered that “what the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel” by throwing a wrench into the process.

Many millions of people are losing their extended unemployment benefits. They’re going to be evicted from their apartments because the eviction moratorium is ending…This president is diddling around and he may actually veto it. My view is given the terrible economic crisis facing this country, yes, we do need to get $2,000 out to every working class individual in this country… But you can’t diddle around with the bill. Sign the bill, Mr. President, and then immediately, Monday, Tuesday, we can pass a $2,000 direct payment to the working families of this country.

Karl noted that Sanders has been pushing for recurring direct relief for some time, so he asked the senator if he ever heard from the White House about joining forces for $2,000 per person.

“Not a word. Everybody assumed that [Steve] Mnuchin was representing the White House,” Sanders answered. “What we need to do is have the president sign that bill today, right now, or else the suffering in this country will be immense and then we can immediately deal with the $2,000.”

Watch above, via ABC.