The high school secretary at the center of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s now-deleted tweet framing her $1.50 per week pay increase as impressive says she was shocked to be used as an example by the Republican congressman.
Ryan quickly came under fire at the weekend when he tweeted out the $1.50 pay rise story as an example of someone benefiting from the Republican tax overhaul.
The secretary, Julia Ketchum, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had been mentioned in an Associated Press story two days earlier saying she ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the marginal pay rise.
House Speaker Paul Ryan came under fire when he used a high school secretary’s $1.50 per week pay rise as an example of someone benefiting from the Republican tax overhaul
Ketchum had said she didn’t think her pay would go up at all, but the increase would more than cover her yearly Costco membership.
While other workers were also quoted in the story, Ryan opted to pinpoint the secretary in his tweet.
‘A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week… she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year.’
He later deleted the tweet after facing backlash.
Ketchum told CBS in a Skype interview that she was ‘really surprised’ Ryan had chosen to highlight her comment.
‘I’m really surprised actually because the paragraph above me, and the paragraph below my quote – those people got hundreds more and I got a $1.50 per paycheck more,’ she said.
The secretary, Julia Ketchum, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, told CBS in a Skype interview that she was ‘really surprised’ Ryan had chosen to highlight her comment
Paul Ryan later deleted the above tweet after facing backlash for pegging the $1.50 pay rise as impressive
Ketchum said she did notice the pay increase, even though it was only a $1.50.
‘$1.50 is $1.50 – I noticed it, I watch my finances and I noticed it. It didn’t go down, so that was good,’ she said.
Democrats were quick to round on Ryan following his tweet as they pointed out that wealthier Americans and big corporations benefit much more from the tax cuts.
‘Paul Ryan deleted his embarrassing tweet of a blatant admission because he and Republicans don´t want you to know the truth: the #GOPTaxScam is a gift to corporate America and the top 1% at your expense,’ Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted.
‘He also doesn´t want you to know he got $500.000.00 from the Koch family,’ she added, referencing a campaign donation Ryan received after the House of Representatives passed their version of the tax reform bill in November, according to data published by ProPublica.
Meanwhile Randy Bryce, a Democrat hoping to unseat Ryan in Wisconsin, saw the blunder as a campaigning opportunity.
‘Moments ago, @PRyan deleted this tweet after we told him just how out of touch he was… Chip in $1.50 now to help us repeal and replace Ryan permanently this November,’ Bryce tweeted.
Senior staff writer for Upworthy and GOOD, Parker Molloy, thought the figure to be extremely comical when she broke it down into a daily figure
US Representative Eric Swalwell (California )asked over Twitter if Ketchum had all the facts
Patton Oswalt wrote, ‘Hey @PRyan, why’d you delete this tweet? You seemed so excited about struggling Americans making an extra DOLLAR AND A HALF A WEEK. You s***-lizard’
Owen Ellickson wrote, sarcastically: ‘”A Costco mention will please the poors,”‘ thinks Ryan. “That is where they buy their huts, and the slurry that they eat”‘