House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) argued that President Trump unleashed a “Marshall Plan for Main Street” in trumpeting the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic at the final night of the Republican convention.
“Together we built the greatest economy the world has ever seen — and we will do it again,” McCarthy, who has aligned himself closely to Trump, said in a video.
Describing the COVID-19 disease as an “invisible enemy,” McCarthy said the U.S. will defeat it because America is “where innovation happens — and we are developing a vaccine in record time.”
“We will defeat it because President Trump unleashed a Marshall Plan for Main Street — and put hard-working taxpayers back on their feet,” he said.
Trump has signed several coronavirus relief measures approved by Congress that have delivered stimulus checks to families, bolstered unemployment benefits and set up the Paycheck Protection Program to help businesses.
Since the spring, however, the White House and Democrats in Congress have stalemated over a new relief package.
McCarthy, Trump and other Republicans have argued against continuing the $600 increase of unemployment benefits, which expired at the end of July. There has been talk of a smaller increase, but Democrats have pressed for the full $600. Republicans worry the increase would disincentivize people from searching for work.
The national unemployment rate stands at 10.2 percent, though it has tumbled in recent months.