Trump tried to clean up Wilbur Ross' tone-deaf comments on unpaid federal workers, didn't succeed

Trump talks grocery stores and federal employees

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/CNN)

published 25 January 2019

On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross weighed in on the 800,000 federal workers who haven't been paid in over a month, and his comments were not widely viewed as emanating empathy. That's true even if you don't picture Ross as fictional fellow billionaire Mr. Burns from The Simpsons:

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Also, "who thinks grocery stores and mortgage banks are going to go easy on folks?" asked CNN's Chris Cuomo. "The president is confusing the treatment he got from banks because of his ability to have family millions prop him up as collateral. That's not the real world." Cuomo also lit into Lara Trump's feigned ignorance and explained why Trump won't win his wall, only cause more pain. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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