Twelve Times Perdue Opposed Stimulus Checks, Direct Pandemic Aid For Workers

Perdue “fought against” $1200 stimulus checks early in the pandemic and has been in lockstep with McConnell to obstruct aid

ATLANTA — Today, after refusing to support increased stimulus checks for Georgians, former corporate CEO Senator David Perdue “cav[ed] to pressure from Democrats,” flip flopping on his opposition to stimulus checks in a desperate stunt to try to fool Georgians and save his losing campaign. Perdue’s history of obstructing COVID relief aid and opposing stimulus checks stretches back to the beginning of the pandemic where Perdue fought against giving direct aid to struggling Americans.

Here’s twelve times David Perdue fought against and opposed stimulus checks and direct pandemic aid for working families:

1. Perdue said he “personally opposed” $1,200 stimulus checks despite admitting that “there are a lot of people who can use that,” adding that he “held [his] nose” to vote for COVID economic relief.

2. In a tele-town hall, Perdue said he “fought against” the direct payment program in the CARES Act.

3. Perdue said “I really oppose” direct payments to individuals because he “didn’t see the impact” from stimulus efforts around the Great Recession.

4. Perdue said Democrats “forced” direct payments on Republicans in the CARES Act, asserting that he “wouldn’t have liked [the payments] in the bill” because he said they didn’t work in the past and were not a stimulus.

5. When Trump said he wanted another round of direct payments for people, Perdue said that his priority was liability protection.

6. Perdue supported an amendment to the CARES Act that would have capped weekly unemployment benefits amid concerns from Republicans that the benefits were “too generous.”

7. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Perdue expressed concern that the $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits was “disincentivizing” work.

8. Perdue said he “fought this premium on unemployment in the very beginning,” adding he “actually put an amendment on the floor that would have … undone that.”

9. Perdue said “I do not” support a short-term extension of expanded coronavirus unemployment benefits, adding they’ve “given people an incentive not to come back to work.”

10. In a Fox News interview, Perdue peddled a debunked claim that the $600 weekly emergency unemployment insurance relief was an “incentive to keep people out of work” and “keep[s] the economy from really growing.” But when it came to his corporate backers, Perdue dismissed reports of banks taking billions in fees off a small business relief fund as “the cost of doing business.”

11. In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Perdue said expanded unemployment relief was “the number one thing that’s holding us back from opening up a lot of small businesses.”

12. Perdue called expanded unemployment aid for struggling Georgians “a hindrance” as hundreds of thousands of Georgians are out of work – but had no issue backing a multi-billion dollar “slush fund” for big corporations and engaging in “heavy trading” to protect his stock portfolio during the pandemic.

“Senator Perdue opposed stimulus checks from the beginning of the pandemic, and now he’s lying to Georgians to save face because his campaign is spiraling downward,” said Braxton Brewington, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Georgia voters won’t be fooled by Perdue’s latest stunt to revive his flailing campaign because they’ve seen his opposition to pandemic relief for the past eight months.”

###