WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Vice President Mike Pence ripped House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday for dismissing employee bonuses resulting from the GOP tax cut as mere “crumbs.”
“I heard Nancy Pelosi, before the tax cut was voted on, predicted economic armageddon,” Pence told House and Senate Republicans on the first day of the annual GOP policy retreat at The Greenbrier resort.
“It’s just amazing to me that after this tax cut passes, 3 million Americans get another $1,000 in their pockets in many cases, and she actually described that as ‘crumbs,’” added Pence, who formerly represented Indiana in the House and governor’s office.
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“Let me just remind you all that I come from the JoS A. Bank wing of the West Wing,” Pence joked, referencing the discount clothier. “Seriously, people stop me and say, ‘Is that a new suit?’ and I say, ‘Two for one.’”
“If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,” the vice president continued. “If I had another $1,000 in my pocket at the end of the year, I have a term for that: Christmas. … Or maybe a little something extra for Mrs. Pence.”
Earlier this year, Pelosi scoffed at the bonuses employees were receiving from the GOP tax cuts, saying they paled in comparison to the billions of dollars in tax cuts that corporations received.
“In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. It’s so pathetic,” the San Francisco Democrat said.
Later Wednesday night, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill fired back at the vice president.
“Quoting Leader Pelosi out of context doesn’t change the fact that 83 percent of the benefit under the GOP Tax Scam goes to the wealthiest and massive corporations,” Hammill said. “While hundreds of billions flow to corporate America on the backs of the hard-working families, the vice president is proudly touting a tax hike on 86 million middle class families.”