Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie grilled Speaker of the House Paul Ryan Wednesday morning ahead of the revote on the GOP’s sweeping tax reform.
Guthrie questioned the Wisconsin Congressman on the tax bill, which passed through the Senate Tuesday night and is expected to pass again in the House after a second vote on Wednesday.
In a tense exchange where Guthrie read a quote from billionaire Michael Bloomberg about how it was “pure fantasy” to expect the legislation to increase wages and growth, she bluntly asked Ryan: “Are you living in a fantasy world?”
“I would compare that anecdote to just the surveys of businesses like the National Association of Manufacturers, which show the vast majority of businesses are going to do just what we say — reinvest in their workers, reinvest in their factories, pay people more money, higher wages,” Ryan responded.
“Corporations are already sitting on a ton of cash,” Guthrie said shortly afterwards. “They have record profits — $2.3 trillion —why aren’t they raising wages and creating jobs now?”
Later in the segment, Guthrie shifted the conversation to sexual harassment allegations against President Donald Trump, asking if Ryan would support a Congressional investigation into the accusations.
“Well, as you know, the person in charge of that committee, Trey Gowdy, has given a very articulate response which is those are criminal matters. Congress doesn’t do criminal investigations,” Ryan said.
Four of Trump’s accusers came forward again recently, demanding that Congress investigate their claims. A White House spokesperson dismissed the request in a statement to Megyn Kelly, who interviewed three of the women last week.
“These false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts, were addressed at length during last year’s campaign, and the American people voiced their judgement by delivering a decisive victory,” the White House Statement said.
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