Democrats urge Republicans to focus on pandemic
November 13, 2020
Top Democrats on Thursday called on Republicans to accept President Donald Trump's election defeat and concentrate instead on addressing the country's worsening coronavirus pandemic.
"They're engaged in an absurd circus right now, refusing to accept reality," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said at a joint press conference with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
President-elect Joe Biden's allies said Republicans should concede Biden won and immediately return to negotiations on COVID-19 relief.
"It's most unfortunate that the Republicans have decided that they will not respect the will of the people, " Pelosi told reporters. "It's like the house is burning down, and they just refuse to throw water on it.''
Pelosi told Republicans to "Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people: their health and their economic security."
Schumer appealed to Republicans to "stop their shenanigans" and instead work together to fight their "common enemy, " COVID-19.
"Republicans in Congress are spreading conspiracy theories, denying reality and poisoning the well of our democracy," Schumer said.
Read more: US election fact check: The voting dead?
Democrats press for trillion-dollar relief package
Both Schumer and Pelosi have been pushing Republicans to restart negotiations to establish another coronavirus stimulus package and boost the US's battered economy and aid state and local governments.
The Democrats on Thursday pressed for a $2.4 trillion "HEROES Act" (€ 2.03 trillion) coronavirus relief bill.
Congress virtually unanimously passed a $1.8 trillion coronavirus rescue bill in March, but top leaders and the administration have disputed for months over what another relief payment should entail.
The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus across the US soared to at least 64,939 by late Wednesday, the highest ever for a single day during the pandemic, increasing by more than 41% in the past two weeks. The country's death toll surged by 1,464 to a total of 241,809.
mvb/rc (AP, dpa, Reuters)