CNN's Daniel Dale declared that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt employed a "classic spinmeister tactic" when she failed to directly answer questions about Trump's sudden freeze on all federal grants and loans.
At issue was whether Americans who rely on federal assistance for things like food and medicine would lose their benefits.
The confusion began after "The Office of Management and Budget sent a vaguely worded two-page memo to all federal agencies Monday night directing them to 'temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance.'"
Anchor Brianna Keilar addressed Dale after Tuesday's White House press conference.
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"I want to talk about a very big issue that is going to affect a lot of Americans, and that is the recent pause by the White House on these federal grants and loans," Keilar said.
"Karoline Leavitt tried to say repeatedly that she had answered this question — that direct assistance like Social Security, Medicare, food stamps — if you're getting that direct assistance or that direct check from the government, it's not going to be affected. But there's a lot of groups that you would expect — the nonprofits — [like] Meals On Wheels, Head Start. She wouldn't answer that question. And there's also so much other federal funding that goes to nonprofits that goes to local and state entities. So, not directly to individuals, but to entities that provide that essential aid, then to individuals that's held up. What did you think about what you heard?"
Dale responded, "Yeah, I think it's a classic spinmeister tactic saying, 'I answered that,' when you haven't answered it and apparently can't answer it right away. There's considerable uncertainty around the country among nonprofits of various kinds, organizations of various kinds, and the people who get help from those organizations."
Dale continued, "So, they may not get direct, individual payments straight from the federal government, but their lives, their situations, their living situations, in some cases their food and transportation situations, are very much dependent on the aid that comes through an intermediary organization. And we still do not have clarity on what is happening with the funding that usually goes to those entities."