Legendary TV anchor Dan Rather tears into Trump for ‘abject cruelty’ of refusing to sign Covid relief bill

Veteran TV journalist Dan Rather is the latest person to call out the president for his recent behaviour, which has left millions of unemployed people in limbo as the programme which offers financial assistance expired last night.

Congress managed to pass a Covid relief bill which would extend unemployment benefits and offer $300 a month to the 9.5 million Americans who had been relying on it.

But on Christmas Eve Trump refused to sign the bill, which had been sent to his Florida golf resort Mar-a-Lago where he is spending the holidays.

The reason for his opposition to the bill was ostensibly the fact that the stimulus checks agreed ($600) were not enough. Trump wants the amount increased to $2,000, a move supported by Democrats but ironically largely opposed by Republicans. He also complained about “pork" spending without specifying what exactly he was referring to.

The fact remains that while Trump refuses to sign the bill, the people losing out are the most disadvantaged Americans, which is what Rather was presumably reacting to when he tweeted about the president’s “abject cruelty”.

Rather’s tweet, posted last night, already has over 80,000 like and 15,000 retweets.

Among those echoing his sentiments were author Sheila O’Flanagan, TV producer Laurie Zaks and singer Nancy Sinatra.

Rather is only one of a number of high-profile journalists who have come out against Trump following his recent actions since the election, including the president’s own former friend and Fox News host Geraldo Rivera.

MORE: What will happen if Trump has to physically vacate White House