House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Monday accused House Democrats of using the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to embrace socialism while restructuring the government through their push to pass a $3 trillion relief bill late last week.
"It's really sickening that the Democrats are using this opportunity to enforce their socialism," the California Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "[The bill is] about pot, prisoners, about politicizing election law, prioritizing illegal immigrants, and pensions. These are all things that are socialist wish lists that they've been trying to pass long before COVID came to this land, and that's exactly what they are trying to do, knowing that it will not go anywhere."
Such positions are not just the stance of people like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. They are now common throughout the Democratic Party, said McCarthy.
Meanwhile, Republicans want liability protection for employers and businesses against coronavirus lawsuits to be included in the next relief package, and President Donald Trump wants to see a payroll tax cut, which McCarthy said would keep money in people's pockets.
"Look at what we've been able to do with the small businesses, saving more than 30 million jobs even though the speaker, every single time we went to move a bill, had held it up," said McCarthy. "We should focus on COVID, have the ability to open up safely. She's not even opening up the congress. The Senate is open. Starbucks is open, but not the House."
He added that he can understand businesses' push to reopen, as he opened his first business at the age of 20.
"I believe we should look to the local communities to start making these decisions," said McCarthy. "We can open up safely [so] that individuals can start producing again, so we have an economy to come back to."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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