CLAIM: Far-left “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) claimed GOP incumbent Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) are “standing between” Georgia families and a “$2,000 survival check.”
VERDICT: False. Both Loeffler and Perdue explicitly stated Tuesday they support President Donald Trump’s call to increase the amount of stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000.
“Mitch McConnell, Kelly Loeffler & David Perdue are standing between your family and a $2,000 survival check Georgia,” Pressley said Tuesday evening, urging Georgians to vote for Democrat Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff “like lives depend on it”:
However, Pressley’s assertion, particularly that Loeffler and Perdue are “standing between” Georgia families and their stimulus checks, is false. Both GOP incumbents, who face tight runoff elections in less than a week, publicly stated Tuesday they support Trump’s demand to increase the amount of the checks.
“I’ve stood by the president 100 percent of the time. I’m proud to do that and I’ve said, absolutely, we need to get relief to Americans now and I will support that,” Loeffler said during a Tuesday appearance on Fox News.
Similarly, Perdue on Tuesday spoke to Fox News’s Sandra Smith and stated he is “delighted to support the president in this $2,000.”
“It’s really a $1,400 increment over what we’ve done. … It’s the right thing to do for people in Georgia,” he said:
While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blocked Democrat efforts for quick approval of $2,000 stimulus checks on Tuesday, he assured that the Senate will being Trump’s three priorities “into focus” this week and subsequently introduced a measure that increases checks to $2,000, creates a commission to investigate voter fraud, and addresses Section 230 — three requests outlined by the president on Sunday.
Other GOP senators have indicated that they support increasing checks as well, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).