Vice President Mike Pence slammed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Thursday for being "out of touch with the American people" after she has repeatedly used "crumbs" to describe additional employee benefits resulting from Republican tax reform legislation.
Pence was one of the first keynote speakers on the first day of the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in National Harbor, Md. During his remarks, he vehemently defended President Donald Trump and the administration's accomplishments, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation, the policy to demand more from allied nations for NATO's common defense, and the passage of tax reform.
"Since the president's tax cuts became the law of the land, businesses large and small have actually announced more than $480 billion in new investments, in American jobs, American workers," Pence said. "And in just the past two months, more than 4.3 million Americans have already gotten a raise or a bonus. And we're just getting started."
Pence then singled out Pelosi and talked about how she is trying to take back the House and become speaker of the house again in 2018 by castigating Republican tax reform legislation, referencing her "armageddon" and "unpatriotic" comments. Pelosi has repeatedly called benefits resulting from the tax reform legislation, which include dozens of companies giving employees $1,000 plus bonuses and wage increases, "crumbs," and "so pathetic."
"She keeps saying that a $1,000 bonus for working Americans is nothing more than 'crumbs.' Well let me remind all of you, I come from a Joseph A. Bank wing of the West Wing of the White House," Pence said in reference to his relatively humble roots. "Seriously folks, when our kids were little, we had a term for another $1,000 in our paycheck at the end of the year: Christmas."
"I want to say from my heart, any leader who says that $1,000 in the pockets of working families is 'crumbs' is out of touch with the American people," Pence said. "It would be a disaster for our cause if Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House again, but we're not going to let it happen."
Pence is not the first to criticize Pelosi's characterization of employee benefits. The congresswomen, among the 20 wealthiest members in the House, has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats alike for her disparaging comments toward the benefits attributed to the tax reform plan.