Bernie Sanders brands $600 Covid stimulus check proposal ‘crap’

Vermont senator calls for another $1,200 payment to help struggling Americans

Bernie Sanders has branded the White House’s proposal to give Americans a $600 stimulus check as “crap.”

The Vermont senator attacked Donald Trump’s plan as he pushed for another round of $1,200 per person payments in the next Covid relief bill.

The White House have offered Democrats a $916bn pandemic stimulus package, their first proposal since breaking off negotiations with Nancy Pelosi in November.

“The question now is whether Mitch McConnell is going to turn his back on the incredible suffering the American people, the working people are experiencing,” Mr Sanders told Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC.

“This is an emergency, Congress has to respond aggressively for working families.

“I always get a kick. Here in Washington, when we go to war there is endless amounts of money, tax breaks for billionaires there is endless amount of money, corporate welfare endless amounts of money, but when children are going hungry in America suddenly we don’t have the money, that is crap, that is wrong.”

Mr Sanders and other progressive senators opposes the original $908bn bipartisan aid proposal as it stands, saying that it does not go far enough.

The plan currently includes $160bn for state and local governments, a temporary liability shield for businesses and funding for transportation, schools and vaccines.

The original $2.2 trillion stimulus package in March dished out a round of $1,200 stimulus checks and an additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits through July.