About a month ago, liberals blasted the Trump administration for "delaying" the release of a $20 bill with Harriet Tubman on it. But Alex Griswold at the Free Beacon noted that despite all the complaints from Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, Jeff Stein at The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Obama-era officials said President Obama's promise of a Tubman bill by 2020 was never realistic.
“Those announcements were not grounded in reality. The U.S. had not at the time acquired the security features to redesign and protect the notes,” said Larry Felix, who ran the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from 2006 to 2015.
In congressional testimony last fall, BEP director Leonard R. Olijar also said it was decided in 2013 that the $20 bill would not be released until 2030. Olijar was appointed by Obama. “BEP was never going to unveil a note design in 2020,” Olijar said in a recent statement. “No Bureau or Department official has ‘scrapped’ anything. ”
We'd like to recall it wasn't just the liberal legislators that bashed Team Trump on Tubman. Here's a few media mentions.
On The View on ABC on May 23, Whoopi Goldberg called Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin “little Stevie” before suggesting this was just a cover up: “I’m sorry, every time you hold up a bill you see the security strip. You see the watermarks. So, I don't think that's the reason, Steve. I think you’re not being upfront,” she said, making a skeptical face.
Joy Behar added: “Do you think it’s a dog whistle to his base?” Behar eagerly asked. Sunny Hostin immediately agreed. “I think so! I think so,” she nodded. Whoopi just shook her head and said, “I don’t know,” as the audience applauded Behar’s insinuation.
On MSNBC's AM Joy on May 26, Jason Johnson of The Root website insisted Mnuchin had been outed as a racist by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (from The Squad):
JASON JOHNSON: Who I think won the week, not only got Ben Carson but also Mnuchin. And that is Ayanna Presley, basically took out two of the most incompetent -- the only other person that she didn't take out this week was Betsy DeVos who I think is the third of the Three Amigos of incompetence in this administration. She not only got Mnuchin basically to say on camera, like, "I hate black people -- you're not going to get Harriet Tubmans in 2020" -- but she also got Ben Carson to reveal once again that he's not only incompetent -- he is not only asleep basically three-quarters of the time when he's doing his job -- but he's also a sexist fool.
In May, USA Today promoted Pressley's questioning of Mnuchin and treated the Treasury Secretary's answer as spin, not as a governing reality.
On the same day, MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton was mangling his history -- suggesting Abe Lincoln's immediate predecessor was Andrew Jackson, which was only off by eight presidents -- unfunny Muslim comedian Dean Obeidallah did not correct Sharpton's mistake. He added: "Absolutely. I think -- I'm not kidding -- I think there's more of a chance he'd put David Duke on the $20 bill before he'd put Harriet Tubman." Sophia Nelson mocked Trump for missing an "easy lay-up."
Remember stories like these when the media elites insist that Team Trump is terrible with facts. Liberals can often put their spin ahead of facts, especially when race issues are involved.
