RNC Calls Bernie 'Sanders Claus,' 'Scrooge,' 'Grinch' For Tax Cut Comments

Following Vermont Gov. Bernie Sanders’ (D-VT) interview regarding GOP tax cuts on CNN on Sunday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released a statement on Christmas mocking his positive remarks on the bill.

“Eberniezer Scrooge turned into Sanders Claus yesterday when asked about middle class tax cuts,” the statement read. “Bernie has long supported massive tax increases on everyone — including the middle class — but this Christmas, even this Grinch’s heart has grown.”

The statement was in reaction to Sanders' comment that the GOP tax bill was a “very good thing” when CNN news anchor Jake Tapper asked the governor on his show “State of the Union” how he felt about 91 percent of middle income Americans receiving tax cuts after the bill goes into effect, the Hill reported.

"That's why we should've made the tax breaks for the middle class permanent. But what the Republicans did is made the tax breaks for corporations permanent, the tax breaks for the middle class temporary," Sanders added.

The RNC also posted a screenshot of Sanders’ interview with the caption “Christmas Miracle,” adding they were willing to work with him to make the tax cuts permanent for the middle cuts.

RNC’s sarcastic response to the tax bill had a number of people on the social media defending Sanders.

Although Sanders did briefly praise the GOP tax bill, the overall tone of his comments was negative. “Meanwhile, at the end of 10 years, well over 80 billion Americans are paying more in taxes. Thirteen million Americans, as a result of this legislation, lose their health insurance. Health premiums are going up. You've got a $1.4 trillion deficit as a result of this bill. And [Speaker] Paul Ryan [R-Wis.] is going around saying 'Oh, we have to offset that deficit by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,'” Sanders said.

Nevertheless, Sanders’ latest stance on the tax bill was softer than his earlier take on it, before it was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday, marking the latter’s first legislative win. Like his Democratic peers, Sanders had bashed the bill for catering to the wealthy more than the middle class.

"At the end of the day what you had is people like [Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin, who himself is worth $300 or $400 million dollars, or the president of the United States who is worth several billion dollars, as you mentioned, some 4,000 to 5,000 lobbyists doing everything that they could to write a bill which significantly benefits the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations," Sanders said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Dec. 17.

Sanders had also criticized the fact that Republicans had not discussed the fate of important government-funded programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in their overall budget and tax plans.