Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin found out today that while he may have become a billionaire by bullying older women out of their homes, not all women are as easy to run over when he sat in front of the House Appropriation Committee, headed by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
Mnuchin asks to be dismissed. Waters says no. pic.twitter.com/rYkuBl3HXO
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 9, 2019
During a tense exchange, Mnuchin announced that he would stay to answer more questions (as if he had a choice in the matter), but he would need to cancel a meeting. He added that if he canceled, he wouldn’t return to sit in front of that committee again.
‘If you’d wish to keep me here so I don’t have my important meeting and continue to grill me, then we can do that. I will cancel my meeting and I will not be back here. I will be very clear.’
Taking him at his word without being intimidated, Waters told the rest of the committee that Mnuchin was offering to stay and told him to feel free to go cancel his meeting.
‘The secretary has agreed to stay to hear all of the rest of the members. Please cancel your meeting and respect our time.’
Maxine Waters: "no other secretary has ever told us the day before that they were going to limit their time." Mnuchin then backs himself into a corner and a lot of excuses accompany his red-faced stammering.
Make no mistake, he would not disrespect a white man in this same way. pic.twitter.com/vyGtrpWE6v
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) April 9, 2019
Somehow, Mnuchin twisted that into Waters “ordering” him to stay and miss his meeting, even though he had already stated that he would stay and cancel his meeting. Waters was not hearing any of his complaints.
‘I’m not ordering you. I said you may leave any time you want. And you said, “OK, if that’s what you want to do, I’ll cancel my meeting and I’ll stay here.”‘
"If you wish to leave, you may": Waters and Mnuchin argue over hearing length https://t.co/2Sgy0rYo0I
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 9, 2019
Mnuchin then made an even more ill-advised move, telling Waters to “bang her gavel” so that he could leave. Telling Auntie Maxine how to do her job didn’t go over well. Mnuchin then complained that she hadn’t treated another official who came to answer questions the same way, to which she quickly responded.
‘This is a new way and it’s a new day. And it’s a new chair and I have the gavel at this point.’
President Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters faced off during a committee hearing in a verbal sparring match over a scheduling issue.
Waters joins @andersoncooper to discuss the exchange at 8p ET on CNN. https://t.co/7NIoJaibIf pic.twitter.com/bFItD83paO
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 9, 2019
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
