Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Define Wins’: Dem Rep Spins Trump’s Victories After CNN Host Lists Off His Accomplishments

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Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday attempted to downplay President Donald Trump’s second-term victories when CNN host Sara Sidner listed his accomplishments and asked how Democrats could counter him.

Sidner, on “CNN News Central,” noted Trump has notched victories on the border and the economy, along with seeming to be on the verge of passing his “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Rather than acknowledge Trump’s winning streak, Wasserman Schultz attacked Trump’s bill and claimed a Thursday jobs report that beat expectations was not actually a positive development.

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“Here are some things that have happened: Gas prices down. Economic indicators are decent. Brand new job report shows that’s much better than expected and border crossings are down,” Sidner said. “And now, Trump’s mega spending bill looks like it’s going to be passed by Republicans. How do you Democrats fight back with the wins that Trump can tout?”

“Well, it depends on how you define wins, Sara,” Wasserman Schultz replied.

She then launched into a tirade against Trump’s sweeping domestic policy legislation, framing it as a destructive package that would harm Americans who are at risk.

“I mean, the way I can summarize this big, ugly bill best is Republicans caved, Trump lied and people will die. This bill does kick 17 million people off of their health care,” Wasserman Schultz said. “That’s people who are on Medicaid who are extremely vulnerable, like veterans and the elderly, the disabled, and children. We’re talking about the largest cuts to nutrition assistance, meaning people are going to go hungry. 4 million people lose their nutrition assistance. 31,000 in my district alone. You have 70,000 who will lose Medicaid. This is a bill that is going to cause tremendous pain.”

“And it is incredibly unpopular with the public because they don’t want their government to actually take away things that ensure that they can remain healthy and safe and that their families can be cared for and that they can have a middle class lifestyle,” she continued. “This bill is all in service to taking care of the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans. It explodes the deficit and it raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion to give tax breaks to the wealthy.”

Wasserman Schultz then pivoted to the jobs report.

“The overwhelming majority of those jobs are actually government jobs and education jobs that look to be more like substitute teachers. There are really not many jobs in that job support that they can point to that are in the private market,” she said. “So it’s a hollow jobs report. And you’re going to see over the next year and a half the incredible pain that this big, ugly bill will cost people.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the U.S. economy added 147,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, beating expectations of 106,000 from economists. The bureau also revised April and May job numbers upward by a combined 16,000 jobs — 11,000 for April and 5,000 for May.