Donald Trump publicly slapped down Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Thursday after the 81-year-old multimillionaire said he 'can't understand' why furloughed federal employees are going to food banks and said they should borrow money instead.
About 800,000 federal workers on Friday will experience their second pay period without a check when the partial government shutdown goes into Day 35.
When pressed about the hardships these workers were facing Ross, 81, said 'I don't really quite understand why' they had to go to food banks.
'I know they are, and I don't really quite understand why,' he told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' on Thursday morning. 'Because, as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake, say borrowing from a bank or a credit union are in effect federally guaranteed.'
'So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out, there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it, and we've seen a number of ads of financial institutions doing that,' he said.
'Banks and credit unions should be making credit available to them. There is really not a good excuse why there should be a liquidity crisis. True, people will have to pay a little interest,' he told 'Squawk Box' on Thursday morning. 'There is no reason why some institutions would not be able to lend.'
Hours later at the White House Trump was asked about the gaffe during a freeewheeling question and answer session with reporters and said: 'Perhaps he should have said it differently.'
Slap down: Trump rebuked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who said he doesn't understand why furloughed federal workers can't get loans and why they are visiting food banks
Furloughed federal workers protested on Capitol Hill Wednesday
Hundreds of furloughed federal workers line up outside the World Central Kitchen on Tuesday in Washington, DC to receive a meal
Trump then said Ross 'has done a great job, I will tell you that', framing it in the past tense, which will inevitably raise questions in Washington D.C. over whether the former Wall Street corporate raider may be about to leave the Cabinet.
Trump claimed that 'grocery stores' and banks would 'work along' with furloughed workers, and said he believed that was what Ross was trying to say.
The commerce secretary's remarks earned outrage at a time when the Trump administration was already battling a perception that it doesn't care about furloughed federal workers.
Later on Thursday, Ross went on Bloomberg TV to try to clean up his earlier remarks.
'We're painfully aware that there are hardships inflicted on the individual workers,' he said. 'There are people experiencing hardship,' he noted.
Ross had suggested on CNBC that workers should get loans from banks to cover them until the shutdown ends - even if that means paying interest.
He told Bloomberg TV he was trying to give workers resources to use with his suggestion.
'Part of my purpose in what I said this morning is to try to make sure the workers who are experiencing liquidity crises know that may be a source they could go to,' Ross said.
Hundreds of banks and credit unions have offered low or no-interest loans to workers.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Ross on Thursday morning for having a 'let them eat cake' attitude at her weekly news conference.
'They have Wilbur Ross saying he just doesn't understand why when he was asked about people going into food lines and pantries and the rest, he said he doesn't understand why they have to do that. I don't know if this the let them eat cake kind of attitude or call your father money or this is character building for you, it's all going to end up very well,' she said at the Capitol on Thursday morning.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also said that Ross' comment was 'unreal' in a tweet that qualified the Trump administration official as a 'billionaire.'
Ross was once thought to be a billionaire, but Forbes reported in 2017 that he is not. Forbes said that he 'lied' about his net worth. He has $700 million in assets, it estimated.
He acknowledged those in a government filing last year.
His gaffe capped a series of missteps by Trump officials including the president himself.
The president claimed that a 'lot of the people that aren't getting their checks are letting us know we don't care, you've got to solve the crisis at the border' earlier in January.
Lara Trump, a daughter-in-law to the president and a spokesperson for his reelection campaign, said Wednesday in an interview with BOLD TV, 'It is a little bit of pain but it's going to be for the future of our country and their children and their grandchildren and generations after them will thank them for their sacrifice.'
She and her husband Eric's net worth is not known, but her father-in-law is a billionaire.
At the White House, the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, tried not to make the same mistake as his colleague. He said that he is fully aware of the 'hardships' that furloughed workers are facing
At the White House, the president's National Economic Council director, Larry Kudlow - who is worth between $2 million and $25 million, according to his government filings - tried not to make the same mistake as his colleague.
He said that he is fully aware of the 'hardships' that furloughed workers are facing. Kudlow noted that he has young staffers who are working without pay.
'Nobody, including myself, likes the hardship caused, the temporary hardship caused, by the government shutdown. Nobody, I have said this, I have young people on my staff, devoted young people,' he said.
'You know when you're 28-years-old, you don't save a lot. I get that. And I think a lot of people will have to get through this.'
Responding to a question from DailyMail.com about Ross, and charges that his comments on food bank and loans were 'out of touch,' Kudlow said he could speak only for himself.
'I fret about the hardship,' he said. 'Am I out of touch? I don't think I'm out of touch, I'm addressing the problem.
'I've met with my individual staff members, and god bless 'em, they're working for free, they're volunteering. But they do it, because they believe government service is honorable, and they believe in President Trump, and they're working as hard as ever. I just hope we get this thing done, you know, ASAP.'
Another reporter noted that other federal workers are not 'volunteering,' in some cases, as they are being compelled to come to work during the shutdown.
Kudlow said he was sympathetic to their plight. 'I've become a great fan of the millennials,' he said as he walked out of the impromptu briefing he was giving in the press room of the White House in front of the podium.
Ross' tenure in President Trump's Cabinet has been marked by reports that he's both on the way out and in favor.
A protestor on Capitol Hill on Wednesday
Philabundance volunteers distribute food to furloughed federal workers and their families who are affected by the partial government shutdown in Philadelphia on Wednesday
Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined chef Jose Andres to distribute meals to furloughed workers on Tuesday
Reporters have expounded on TSA workers calling in sick as they take side jobs to fill their bank accounts while their pay checks are blank.
Other furloughed workers, including members of the Coast Guard, have turned to food banks and food pantries to feed their families, several organizations across the country, told CNN.
More than 2,400 people showed up at five pop-up markets in Washington D.C. for out-of-work federal employees this past weekend.
The attendance was more than double expected at the event organized by Capital Area Food Bank.
Most of the food was done early, the group's president and CEO Radha Muthiah told CNN.
Hundreds of furloughed workers protested on Capitol Hill Wednesday as there is no sign of the shutdown coming to an end anytime soon.
'Will work for pay,' one of the signs read.
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Main photo article Donald Trump publicly slapped down Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Thursday after the 81-year-old multimillionaire said he ‘can’t understand’ why furloughed federal employees are going to food banks and said they should borrow money instead.
About 800,000 federal workers on F...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/24/23/8958540-6630069-image-a-6_1548372722393.jpg
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