Fox News host Sean Hannity confronted Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on why the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Foundation in Washington, D.C. was included in the Senate's Wuhan coronavirus stimulus bill and will be receiving $25 million.
The bill was finally passed 96-0 on Wednesday after being blocked by Senate Democrats.
Hannity said he understood why there were provisions for health care workers and for businesses, big and small, but, "This other crap, why is this in here?"
"The president’s number one issue was to make sure that we protect the American workers and American business. No fault of their own. We have shut down major parts of the economy. And he wants to make sure not only do we protect them, but the economy is ready when he’s ready to open the country. So as you said, in any deal to get a deal done, there’s things we like a lot. There’s things that we would never put in on our own," Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin added he does like the Kennedy Center, but he does not know why it had to be included in the stimulus bill.
"In businesses I understand there’s negotiation, but in this case what makes this particularly, you know, sinister to me, is they're leveraging the help that Americans need in a time of an emergency and crisis and pandemic. They're willing to let those Americans suffer and wait so they can get all of this crap for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kennedy Center, all of this other garbage. That ever happened to you in business? Usually when I do business deals it’s got to be win and win. That's not win-win. That seems like a gun to your head," Hannity said.
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"And I do business deals it’s win and win that we needed bipartisan support and there was a price to pay. I agree that I would rather be sending that money to hospitals than sending that money to the Kennedy Center. Nothing against the Kennedy Center, but this is about the coronavirus," Mnuchin explained.
The Kennedy Center issued a statement defending being part of the stimulus bill.
A Message from the Kennedy Center Regarding the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act: https://t.co/JnmUxkQPpe pic.twitter.com/GDKJoqGv5v
— The Kennedy Center (@kencen) March 25, 2020
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