House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) corrected herself at a press conference outside the White House on Tuesday, saying "holiday present" after initially using the phrase "Christmas present."
"Should, unfortunately, the president choose to shut down the government, so that we have a Trump shut down as a Christmas present, a holiday present, to the American people, I told the president that the new House of Representatives when it convenes will pass what Mr. Schumer suggested here," Pelosi said.
Her comments came after a contentious and public meeting between President Donald Trump, Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), and Vice President Mike Pence, in which the four negotiated terms of a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
A survey by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2016 found two-thirds of Democrats prefer stores and businesses to say "Seasons Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," while about the same percentage of Republicans, 67 percent, had the opposite view. Independents were split, a slight plurality favoring "Merry Christmas."
When PRRI asked the same question in 2013, 58 percent of Democrats preferred "Happy Holidays" while 61 percent of Republicans favored "Merry Christmas."
During his presidential campaign, Trump promised, "If I become president, we’re gonna be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ at every store." Similarly, he told an audience in Salt Lake City last year, "Christmas is back, bigger and better than ever before. We're bringing Christmas back."
Earlier this year, the president argued that Americans are saying "Merry Christmas" more under his presidency.
A Washington Free Beacon analysis by Andrew Stiles outlined what kind of Christmas liberals would like to see.