LOUISVILLE, Ky. The homes of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were vandalized over the weekend after Congress adjourned Friday without securing $ 2,000 stimulus checks.
Messages like “where’s my money” and other artwork were spray-painted over the front door and bricks of the Kentucky Republican’s home in Louisville. Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said the incident took place around 5 a.m. Saturday and there was “minor damage to graffiti on a window and door.” The department has no suspects.
Meanwhile, vandals at the home in San Francisco of Pelosi, a Democrat, painted graffiti on the garage door and left a pig’s head on the sidewalk around 2 a.m. Friday morning, police said. Vandals also wrote local reports such as’ Cancel $ 2k rent ‘and left fake blood on Pelos’ driveway. San Francisco police said their special investigations department is investigating.
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The vandalism comes after McConnell placed the kibosh on a stand-alone proposal for $ 2,000 direct cash payments to eligible U.S. households – an idea backed by President Donald Trump, 44 House Republicans and several Senate Republicans.
“The Senate is not going to be bullied into chasing more borrowed money into the hands of the wealthy friends of the Democrats who do not need the help,” McConnell said in a Senate speech Wednesday.
Last week, Congress approved a $ 900 billion coronavirus relief package, including $ 600 checks for most Americans, after a long deadlock between Democrats and Republicans.
The House on Monday approved that Americans should give $ 2,000 stimulus checks, but the measure never came to a vote in the Senate. A day later, McConnell unveiled his own version of the $ 2,000 legislation that would link payments to two issues opposed by Democrats: the establishment of an advisory committee that would integrate and administer the general election in November. studied and section 230 would be repealed. the Communication Decency Act.
The Senate adjourned Friday night without passing the $ 2,000 stimulus, meaning the fate of the proposal is in the hands of the next Congress, which convenes Sunday.
In response to the vandalism, McConnell said in a statement on Saturday morning: “I have fought my career for the first amendment and the defense of peaceful protest. I appreciate every Kentuckian who has entered the democratic process, whether they agree with me or not. . “
“It’s different,” he continues. “Vandalism and the politics of fear have no place in our society.”
He concluded: “My wife and I have never been intimidated by this toxic playbook. We just hope our neighbors in Louisville are not too hurt by this radical rage.”
It was unclear if McConnell was home during the incident. A McConnell spokesman did not immediately respond to a U.S. TODAY Network request for comment.
A Pelosi spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Contributions: TODAY Savannah Behrmann, USA.
Ben Tobin reports from Louisville. Savannah Behrmann reports from Washington. Grace Hauck reports from New Jersey.
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This article originally appeared on TODAY TODAY: Stimulus checks: McConnell, Pelosi houses vandalized over payments