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Did Steve Mnuchin Say Americans Can Live on $1,200 for 10 Weeks?
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Did Steve Mnuchin Say Americans Can Live on $1,200 for 10 Weeks?

No, he did not.

Alec Dent
Apr 18, 2020
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Did Steve Mnuchin Say Americans Can Live on $1,200 for 10 Weeks?
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On Twitter Wednesday, Brianna Westbrook, the vice-chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and former national surrogate for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, shared a video clip of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin discussing the economic relief provided by the CARES Act on CBS’ March 29 episode of Face the Nation: 

Twitter avatar for @BWestbrookAZ8Brianna Westbrook @BWestbrookAZ8
Steve Mnuchin thinks Americans can live on $1,200 for 10 weeks.
Image

April 15th 2020

10,671 Retweets28,660 Likes

The tweet received additional attention after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, and CNN commentator Keith Boykin picked it up:

Twitter avatar for @AOCAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC
“It’s your monthly rent, Michael. What could it cost? $10?”

Brianna Westbrook @BWestbrookAZ8

Steve Mnuchin thinks Americans can live on $1,200 for 10 weeks. https://t.co/GrS0ON4gcm

April 16th 2020

53,502 Retweets300,508 Likes
Twitter avatar for @marwilliamsonMarianne Williamson @marwilliamson
Marie Antoinette came back as a man.

Brianna Westbrook @BWestbrookAZ8

Steve Mnuchin thinks Americans can live on $1,200 for 10 weeks. https://t.co/GrS0ON4gcm

April 16th 2020

4,035 Retweets26,618 Likes
Twitter avatar for @keithboykinKeith Boykin @keithboykin
Australia: $1993 a month Canada: $1,433 a month Denmark: Up to $3,288 a month France: Up to $7,575 a month Germany: Up to $7,326.78 a month Ireland: Up to $1793.44 a month UK: Up to $3,084 a month U.S.: $1,200 to last for 10 weeks "It's really bridge liquidity" - Steve Mnuchin

Brianna Westbrook @BWestbrookAZ8

Steve Mnuchin thinks Americans can live on $1,200 for 10 weeks. https://t.co/GrS0ON4gcm

April 16th 2020

15,734 Retweets26,589 Likes

Those four tweets collected more than 350,000 likes and 72,000 retweets. In the clip, Mnuchin is heard to say, “these checks in the mail or direct deposit. It's really bridge liquidity for people as they go through these difficult times.” After being asked how long the bridge liquidity is expected to last, Mnuchin responded: “I think the entire package provides economic relief overall for about 10 weeks.”

In their tweets, Westbrook and the others are referring to the checks of up to $1,200 (plus $500 for every dependent under the age of 18) going out to Americans making under $99,000 annually. However, the video is edited to leave out Mnuchin’s comments immediately before those included in the clip. Directly before the comments in the clip in which he referred to the “entire package,” Mnuchin said the law included  “three components”: small business loans, enhanced unemployment benefits, and the checks. But the edited clip in the tweet only included the last one—the checks.

Mnuchin added later in the interview: “if for whatever reason, this takes longer than we think, we will go back to Congress and get more support for the American economy.”

Taken in their entirety, it is clear the secretary’s comments were intended to include the small business loans that the administration hopes will allow businesses to keep employees on payroll and the enhanced unemployment benefits that will provide $600 per week more than usual. Based on that, it is inaccurate to say Secretary Mnuchin believes that Americans can live on $1,200 for a 10-week period.

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com

Photograph of Steve Mnuchin by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images.

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earl king
Apr 19, 2020

Democrats and talking media heads cannot stop themselves from lying. The "fine people on sides" as an example was about both sides of the argument of whether confederate statues should be torn down. Yet it continues. Trump never said the "virus was a hoax". Yes that continues. I cannot imagine David Brinkley or Walter Cronkite ever behaving the way journalist do today. Guessing they are not really journalists.

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MZ
Apr 21, 2020

Of course the Democrats position is, shall we say, disingenuous. The problem, particularly given the proclivity of most of our fine media institutions, is as Mark Twain remarked, "A lie can be half-way around the world before the truth has the chance to get its pants on."

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