By Talia Kaplan | Fox News
Gohmert said liability protections for businesses are of utmost importance.
Democrats put names “on the complete opposite of what they do,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert on Tuesday, when comparing the Republican and Democrat coronavirus stimulus proposals on “Fox & Friends First.”
Gohmert, R-Texas, made the comment referencing the Democrats’ $3 trillion “HEROES Act” from mid-May, which they hailed as the unprecedented response needed to deal with the pandemic and its economic fallout.
On Monday, Senate Republicans unveiled the “HEALS Act,” their version of a fresh round of coronavirus relief. HEALS stands for the package’s focus on Health, Economic Assistance, Liability protection and Schools.
Republicans claim the HEALS Act is more targeted than the previous CARES Act, as it is tailored to an economy that has “one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery,” according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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When asked what are the differences between the two stimulus proposals Gohmert said, “For one thing, Republicans [are] not near as good at naming bills as the Democrats.”
“Democrats put names on the complete opposite of what they do,” he continued.
He went on to say that liability protections for businesses are of utmost importance.
“All of us on the Republican side have known we have got to protect nonprofits, businesses, employers that are wanting to open up, but you got trial lawyers ready to slap them with lawsuits over COVID and they need that protection,” Gohmert said.
Liability protections would be included in the “HEALS Act” for everyone, from doctors and nurses, who will be protected from malpractice suits, to churches, charities, businesses and schools, McConnell noted. The hope is that the protections will encourage companies to reopen without fear that they will spend years in court.
Gohmert also noted that the “HEALS Act” includes a second round of stimulus checks at the same $1200 amount as in the CARES act.
“There is $1,200 again in there, but really what people need is to have the economy going full-bore again and it’ll be better than getting $1,200 from the government putting us more in debt,” Gohmert said.
Host Rob Schmitt asked Gohmert, “How long do you think the country can limp on like this and keep spending trillions of dollars we don’t have?”
“It can’t go on very long,” Gohmert said in response.
“Those who studied history our whole lives know these are the kind of things that Marxists take advantage of to help create the problems, the unrest, the economic problems and then claim, ‘Look you need to make this a Marxist country,’” he continued, adding that “they’re in for a rude awakening.”
“They think they’re going to be part of that little bitty leadership that runs the country when most of them will not,” Gohmert said.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
