DONALD Trump has called to stop sending stimulus checks as businesses "can't get people to work when they have extra cash."
The former president appeared to slam Joe Biden's latest round of $1,400 stimulus checks during an interview on Thursday morning.
"The stimulus is making it so that people won't work," Trump claimed. "Businesses cannot get people to work."
He insisted that Americans were not working because businesses are "competing with the stimulus money."
"If they work, they're not getting the stimulus money. And the stimulus money is more," he said, adding that it was a "tough situation."
While in office, Trump sent a first stimulus check amounting to $1,200 to Americans in need during the Covid pandemic.
Following in his predecessor's footsteps, Biden then signed for a second check of $600 and a third of $1,400 to Americans.
Trump's comments came just hours Joe Biden touted stimulus checks during his first presidential address to Congress.
"We kept our commitment, Democrats and Republicans, of sending $1,400 rescue checks to 85 percent of American households," Biden said during his address.
"We've already sent more than 160 million checks out the door. It's making a difference. You all know it when you go home. For many people, it's making all the difference in the world."
Biden said he received a letter from a mother in Texas who told him she couldn't work.
"She said the relief check put food on the table and saved her and her son from eviction from their apartment," he claimed.
"A grandmother in Virginia who told me she immediately took her granddaughter to the eye doctor, something she said she put off for months because she didn't have the money."
The president didn't speak of any plans to provide a fourth round of stimulus payments, but support is growing among Democrats for additional checks.
In total, 74 congressional lawmakers have pushed for recurring checks to be sent out to Americans until the end of the pandemic.
"One more check is not enough," the group wrote in a January letter.
"Another one-time round of checks would provide a temporary timeline, but when that money runs out, families will once again struggle to pay for basic necessities."
Among the supporters for additional Covid relief are Democratic firebrand Rep. Ilhan Omar and former presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads," they wrote in a March letter. "Families shouldn't have to worry about whether they'll have enough money to pay for essentials in the months ahead."
Biden has not yet publicly addressed the letters or made public remarks about a fourth round of payments.
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