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White House trade adviser Peter Navarro boldly declared that President Donald Trump is the “hardest working president in history.”
Navarro appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” with host Chuck Todd questioning him about the executive orders Trump signed Saturday extending COVID-19 relief, in response to the gridlock in Congress — the orders suspended payroll taxes, extended unemployment benefits of $400 per week, deferred student loan payments, and waived interest on federally held loans through the end of 2020, and also included a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for all single-family mortgages insured by the FHA.
“I want to ask you about these provisions,” Todd began. “Some of them look legally dubious here. Are you confident — what gives you confidence that the president has the power to decide when to postpone the collection of taxes?”
(Source: NBC News)
Noting that the White House has the statutory authority to do these things, Navarro replied, “I’m confident that every single one of those orders which cleared through the office of legal counsel will stand up.”
In talking about the payroll tax cut, Navarro pointed out that in 2012, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was a strong supporter of the idea, before stressing that the president is a strong supporter of the integrity of Social Security — this being the argument the left is throwing out to oppose the cuts.
The Trump adviser said it “should be easy” for Congress to come together and strike a deal, laying out how the negotiations should happen, before suggesting that Pelosi and the Democrats may not be “sincere” about wanting a deal.
“The question we’ve had watching this unfold, the question the president has, is whether the Democrats really are sincere when they come to the table,” he explained. “And I’m not sure, it doesn’t help when Speaker Pelosi goes out every day, with scarfs flying, and just beats the heck out of us for being cruel people.”
Todd would take a beating online from liberals for not challenging the remark, but he was more focused on setting his sights on Trump.
“Where is the president? Why was he at his golf club all weekend?” he asked. “Why isn’t he negotiating? I understand you guys don’t like each other, that Nancy Pelosi and the president — where is he? Why isn’t he involved?”
“You have to understand this is the hardest-working president in history,” Navarro countered. “He works 24/7 — he could be in Bedminster, Mar-a-Lago, the Oval Office or anywhere in between. He could be at the Whirlpool factory like we were Thursday, celebrating working men and women benefiting from tariffs.”
He reiterated that the president is working around the clock, stating the problem “is Capitol Hill, the swamp. The two houses that are too far apart.”
“The Lord and the Founding Fathers created executive orders because of partisan bickering and divided government,” Navarro proclaimed. “That’s what we have here, but the president has taken action.”
“His constituency is mainstream Republicans and blue-collar Democrats and independents who are sick and tired of the swamp and he reached out and he took action,” he added. “He didn’t have to — he could have just let this keep going, and he did not. He took action, action, action, and action.”
The secular left reacted immediately to the inclusion of the Lord in his assertion — which was almost certainly a reference, as in all things, to God’s will being done.
Here’s a sampling of responses from liberals who less than pleased with Todd’s performance from Twitter:
On MTP, Peter Navarro floats theory that Democrats are not passing a COVID deal because they want to hurt the economy in order to boost electoral chances.
Chuck Todd responds: "I take your point."
— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) August 9, 2020
.@chucktodd & @MeetThePress don't have to invite notorious liars on, let them lie, and then agree with them that Democrats—who passed a relief bill months ago—are trying to hurt the economy, despite Republicans still opposing any realistic form of economic relief. They choose to. https://t.co/PU5jtR4Oln
— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) August 9, 2020
Charles Manson: "I invented God, man. I'm the pope. I'm ten times the pope. I'm fifty times the pope! Igga dugga blim blam!"
Chuck Todd: "I take your point."
— Danny Zuker (@DannyZuker) August 9, 2020
Nice of Chuck Todd to spend the morning reminding everyone why he got demoted.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) August 9, 2020
Not sure Chuck Todd got anything out of the Jonathan Swan interview.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) August 9, 2020
Peter Navarro just said the Lord and Founding Fathers created executive orders on Meet the Press and Chuck Todd didn’t even blink
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) August 9, 2020
To Chuck Todd, et al: when someone says the Lord had a hand in creating executive orders, that’s your F’ing CUE!
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) August 9, 2020
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