Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, right, testifying before the House Oversight Committee hearing on family separation and detention centers, Friday, July 12, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Also on the panel is Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., left. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) took his Democratic colleagues in Congress to task for refusing to pass a bill that would provide much-needed funding for small business in dire financial straits due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He criticized progressive politicians for leaving small business owners hanging, suggesting that they are focused on other politically-motivated endeavors.

In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” he pointed out that the Democrats are dead set on blocking a bill designed to help small businesses and their employees while vigorously defending China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Democrats want to play politics instead of actually providing the capital necessary to start businesses,” he said. “We are trying to work hard to get through this pandemic, to get our economy restarted, [and] keep the American people safe. I think the president is trying to do that. Governor Abbott in Texas — we’re working hard to do it.”

He continued, asking: “Why are Democrats more interested in supporting the Chinese than in trying to get the American businesses restarted?’

Roy then took aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who has vociferously defended the World Health Organization’s (WHO) response to the coronavirus outbreak after President Donald Trump declared that he would pause funding for the international organization. The WHO has been accused of assisting the Chinese government in concealing the danger of the virus.

Pelosi recently released a statement arguing that Trump’s withholding of funds is “senseless,” and that “a weak person blames others.” Pelosi called the president’s decision “dangerous” and “illegal” and vowed to challenge him.

Roy addressed Pelosi’s and the Democrats’ criticism of the president. “Well, my understanding is these are dollars that Congress has given to the White House to deal with these kinds of things in a broader sense [and] that the president has latitude to make decisions, particularly on something like this where it is involving our national security interests,” he said.

He continued, stating that we should push the WHO to start handling the issue the right way. “Let’s encourage the [WHO] to step up and get it right, stop siding with the communists in China, [and] stop siding against the interests of the United States,” he said. “And, do what is right for the American people — do what is right for the world.”

The congressman also indicated that he and a group of Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the WHO asking what they knew about COVID-19. He said:

“When did they know what was going on in China? Could they have gotten in front of the six days or seven days that could have been so important to stop the spread of this virus…damaging the world and damaging the United States? We need to get to the bottom of this.”

The letter that Roy and his colleagues sent to the leader of the WHO demanded an explanation for why the organizations seemed to be protecting the Chinese regime. They wrote:

“Despite the WHO’s purported mission to operate as an apolitical international institution within the United Nations, recent media reports suggest that the WHO helped Beijing disseminate propaganda, downplayed the extent of the disease, and possibly delayed ordering a public health emergency.”

The notion that the Democrats would defend China’s government and the WHO is telling, especially in the midst of an economic emergency. Perhaps they would do better to focus more on helping Americans get back to work instead of falling over themselves to protect the country that allowed this problem to become as pernicious as it has in the first place.

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