Bernie Moreno stops at Pataskala diner to sell 'Big, Beautiful Bill' to Ohioans

PATASKALA, Ohio (WCMH) -- Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) is on a mission to sell the "Big, Beautiful Bill" to the people of Ohio -- and people across the country.

Moreno was selling it on Friday at Patrons at a diner in Pataskala, where he talked about how the bill will help the people who work there.

NBC4's Colleen Marshall talked to Moreno outside of the diner.

Moreno came to the Nutcracker in Pataskala where servers will no longer have to pay taxes on their tips and overtime. Moreno said there are also tax breaks for the owner. Moreno said everyone should be celebrating the bill, despite what critics are saying.

"I am now the chief salesperson," Moreno said. "I am no longer a U.S. Senator. I am the chief salesperson for the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.'"

Moreno said much of his sales pitch will be to correct what he calls misinformation on everything from tax breaks for billionaires to sweeping ICE raids that go beyond violent criminals.

"This bill -- look, if you ask the average normal American 'do you like it," they'll say 'no, I don't like it,'" Moreno said. "Then you say 'well how about all these elements?' 'Oh yeah, I love that,' so they love what's in it. They just don't like the bill."

The senator said Democrats on Capitol Hill lie to the public and the media reports the lies.

"Chuck Schumer says that we are going to cut Medicaid, Social Security. Not true," Moreno said. "None of that's true. It's cruel, Colleen. It's cruel to tell people who rely on these programs, because there are people out there trying to take them away. Objectively, it's not true."

Moreno said the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office also got it wrong when it said the big, beautiful bill would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the national deficit.

"The new CBO score is that it's going to lower the deficit by about $400 billion over a 10-year window," he said.

He also said it was wrong about Medicaid cuts.

"Here's the good news about Medicaid. Ohio will receive more Medicaid funding then in any time in Ohio history," he said.

At the exact time Moreno was being a cheerleader for the bill, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) was posting his floor speech to X, detailing what he calls the 10 ways the bill is wrecking the country. He said it cuts Social Security and Medicaid.

Even though the bill is now law, both sides have a very different vision of what it means for the country.