Sarah Huckabee Sanders: The tax bill is good because MSNBC staffers got a bonus
- White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is using promised bonuses to Comcast staffers - including MSNBC employees - as a talking point to celebrate the recently passed tax bill.
- Though some companies got bonuses in the wake of the bill's passage, others likely will pass the vast majority of the bill's savings onto company shareholders.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday promoted the Republican tax overhaul passed by Congress by touting that MSNBC staff would get a bonus as a result.
Following the passage of the Republican tax bill - which lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and allows a tax holiday meant to stimulate repatriation of money overseas - several high-profile corporations celebrated by announcing special bonuses for employees.
Comcast NBC Universal's CEO pledged this week to give up $1,000 bonuses to 100,000 employees as a result of the tax bill's passage.
"Even MSNBC reporters are getting a bonus as this tax cut has happened as a result of that," Sanders said during an interview on Fox News. "If that doesn't help them see the light then nothing will."
Potential benefits to MSNBC staff - generally viewed as left-leaning with some notable exceptions - became a major talking point for many conservatives online.
Several companies have already pledged to give some of the benefits back to employees. Other company leaders said before the bill passed that it was unlikely they would pass on the bulk of financial gains to employees.
Some CEOs have suggested that companies were more likely to use the tax cut and repatriation holiday to benefit shareholders by paying off debt and engaging in stock buybacks.
Watch the clip via Fox News: