Lindsey Graham criticizes McConnell for over $ 2,000 in stimulus checks, says it’s ‘not socialism’

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for calling the $ 2,000 stimulus checks “socialism for the rich” on New Year’s Day.

Senate Republicans blocked another Democratic effort to get a vote on increasing direct payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 on Friday. In a speech on the ground, McConnell denigrated the measure, calling it “socialism for the rich” and “universal cash gift.”

“With all due respect to my fellow Republicans, a direct payment of $ 2,000 for struggling individuals and families is not socialism,” Graham tweeted. “In my opinion, it is necessary in the times in which we live”.

The South Carolina senator insisted that “direct payments may not be [the] the most effective way to help those in need but, given the situation we are facing, they are extremely necessary.

“Going from $ 600 to $ 2,000 does not make you a socialist. Mr. President, keep fighting for the suffering American people. Insist on an autonomous vote,” Graham added.

Newsweek contacted McConnell’s office for comment.

President Donald Trump joined with some Democrats and independent Senator Bernie Sanders in opposing the bipartisan $ 900 billion relief bill to include only a “paltry $ 600” earlier this month. He initially refused to support the $ 2,000 checkless measure, but then surrendered on Sunday and signed the package for his Mar-a-Lago estate, narrowly avoiding a government shutdown.

At the time, Trump said Republicans agreed to a new vote on the $ 2,000 stimulus checks and urged his party members to do so. On Monday, the Democratic-led House narrowly passed $ 2,000 stimulus checks. But McConnell has repeatedly blocked legislation from getting a Senate vote.

Graham, a Trump loyalist who publicly backed bigger stimulus checks after spending time with the president at his Florida golf club on Christmas Day, applauded the signing. “Congress will vote on additional stimulus checks and repeal Section 230 – all victories for the American people,” he tweeted earlier this week. “Well done Mr. President!”

Sanders also challenged McConnell’s remarks in the Senate on New Years Day. He accused the Republican leader of hypocrisy for calling the stimulus checks “socialism for the rich” despite backing massive tax breaks for business.

“This is what socialism is for the rich,” Sanders said of the tax cuts. “Socialism for the rich is not – in the midst of this terrible pandemic – about putting a check for $ 2,000 in the hands of working families.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has stressed the urgency of holding a vote before the current Congress ends on Sunday. “I will seek consent for the last time the Senate sets a time for a vote on the House bill to provide checks for $ 2,000. I have done that every day this week,” he said. he declared in the Senate.

“This is it – the last chance for the 116th Congress to pass $ 2,000 checks and tell ordinary Americans help is on its way. Let’s put a vote.”