Paul Ryan deletes tweet touting $1.50 pay hike after backlash

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) deleted a tweet on Saturday, in which he said a woman’s paycheck went up by $1.50 due to the Republican tax-reform plan. 

Ryan included a link to an Associated Press story in the tweet that explained how the legislation has benefited workers and corporations. 

{mosads}The speaker referred to Julia Ketchum, who said her $1.50 pay increase would cover her Costco membership for the year.

“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week…she said [that] will cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan tweeted. 

[[{“fid”:”145280″,”view_mode”:”original_image”,”fields”:{“format”:”original_image”,”alignment”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_url[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][format]”:”full_html”},”type”:”media”,”field_deltas”:{“1”:{“format”:”default”,”alignment”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_url[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][format]”:”full_html”},”2″:{“format”:”original_image”,”alignment”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_url[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][format]”:”full_html”}},”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“height”:296,”width”:500,”class”:”media-element file-original-image”,”data-delta”:”2″}}]]

The post immediately drew backlash from critics. 

Did you tell her how much the paychecks of the 1% went up a week? Or that hers could have gone up a lot more if you had given them a lot less? #GOPTaxScam https://t.co/X7YBcdAzTH

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) February 3, 2018 

Did you tell her how much the paychecks of the 1% went up a week? Or that hers could have gone up a lot more if you had given them a lot less? #GOPTaxScam https://t.co/X7YBcdAzTH

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) February 3, 2018

Wells Fargo, fresh off of defrauding millions of Americans, gets $3.4 billion. https://t.co/HT4yq3znxw

— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) February 3, 2018

GOP leaders, including President Trump, have touted the impact of the tax plan, which cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Ryan’s Democratic counterpart House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) drew backlash after said the bonuses companies are giving out following the tax law’s passage are “crumbs.”

Trump compared Pelosi’s comments to Hillary Clinton calling his supporters “deplorables” during the 2016 campaign, while Vice President Pence said “If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,”