House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended former President Donald Trump for hosting a Great Gatsby-themed party at Mar-A-Lago, despite his administration’s expected suspension of supplemental food aid for Americans.
During a press conference on Tuesday, a reporter highlighted the “split-screen” optics of Trump’s lavish party occurring as recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, were concerned about how they would feed themselves.
“I reject the premise of the question,” Johnson responded firmly. “By the way, the president had an annual Halloween theme party every year at Mar-a-Lago. That’s what he went back to — it is an obligatory tradition.”
He continued, “And I just discount what you’re trying to do there. The SNAP benefit is a very important question. The White House has bent over backwards, as we’ve recounted here every morning, to make sure that Americans’ pain is mitigated as much as possible, reduced as much as possible.”
Johnson acknowledged that the Trump administration only agreed to restore some SNAP benefits after a court intervention. “So I can tell you that the president is dialed in on this,” the Speaker insisted. “The president is trying to protect and cover the American people as he always does.”
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-gatsby/