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White House Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller locked horns with CNN host Jake Tapper on Tuesday, arguing that liberal news organizations have misrepresented the Trump administration’s freeze of certain federal funds. Miller claimed that the media has created confusion by misreporting a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that paused all federal grants and loans inconsistent with the president’s executive orders to eradicate “wokeness” and the “weaponization of government”.
Miller emphasized that the freeze does not apply to entitlements or other services the government is required to provide, saying, “It does not affect any service to citizens, it does not affect any individual benefit, any public assistance program or anything of that nature.” He also emphasized that the memo does not affect any federal financial assistance programs, and that the White House is not trying to eliminate Medicaid and Meals on Wheels, which were previously confirmed to be exempt.
Tapper pressed Miller to answer for the uncertainty surrounding the guidance, asking whether Medicaid and Meals on Wheels were going to be affected. Miller argued that the media has created a false narrative, and that the OMB guidance memo is “as clear as day”. He claimed that the media is trying to create controversy and spin up fake stories.
The White House official later added that, “As the memo says, in black-and-white letters, no financial benefit programs to Americans are affected. No individual assistance programs are affected. It’s there in black-and-white.” Miller and the White House official continued to dispute the media’s reporting, with Miller saying, “I can’t help it if left-wing media outlets published a fake news story that caused confusion.”
