Business

CNBC’s Cramer says Congress, Trump ‘doomed so many companies’ by not passing COVID-19 stimulus

by Justine Coleman - 11/18/20 4:44 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on Wednesday that Congress and President Trump “doomed so many companies” with their failure to pass a COVID-19 stimulus deal in the fall after months of negotiations.

Cramer slammed lawmakers and the president, arguing that the lack of action likely permanently affected many small and medium-sized businesses across the country.

“I really hate to say this, but I think that Congress has doomed so many companies. The president has doomed so many companies,” Cramer said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.”

The “Mad Money” host emphasized that the lack of aid for smaller businesses has allowed large companies to fill those gaps.

“I think a lot of these companies … have picked up just a giant amount of allegiance. I do think that these companies have wiped out smaller companies because there’s no stimulus,” he said.

He specifically named Walmart, Amazon, Target, Costco and Home Depot, saying, “That’s who won” during the pandemic.

“Whether we think that’s fair or not, that’s who won, when Congress and the president doomed all of the small and medium-sized businesses that don’t have credit lines and can’t keep up,” Cramer said. “They’re the empty storefronts of the country.”

Cramer, whose charitable trust owns shares of Amazon and Walmart, decided to temporarily close his small restaurants in October during the pandemic.

The “Mad Money” host’s comments came after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also called out both sides in Washington, D.C., over the stimulus stalemate.

Democratic congressional leadership has demanded a $2.2 trillion package, while Senate Republicans seek a smaller, more targeted package of $500 billion and the White House proposed $1.8 trillion.

“I know now we have this big debate. Is it $2.2 trillion, $1.5 trillion?” Dimon said at The New York Times’s Dealbook conference. “You gotta be kidding me. I mean, just split the baby and move on. I mean, this is childish behavior on the part of our politicians. We need to help the citizens of America.”