Biden hammers ‘extreme’ MAGA Republicans in New York as debt ceiling talks stall
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden heartily attacked “extreme” MAGA Republicans in remarks delivered at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York, on Wednesday for holding U.S. credit “hostage” in a “manufactured crisis” the day after meeting with congressional leaders.
The White House has escalated its attacks against House Republicans in recent weeks, claiming that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s (R-CA) debt limit bill, passed by the House in late April, would force the government to cut thousands of law enforcement jobs and roll back new healthcare benefits for veterans.
BIDEN SAYS HE’S ‘CONSIDERING’ INVOKING 14TH AMENDMENT TO AVOID DEFAULT
Still, the president’s Wednesday remarks represent his first substantial public comments on the topic since calling McCarthy and congressional leaders to a debt meeting at the White House on May 9.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who defeated the incumbent former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Patrick Maloney by a razor-thin margin in the midterm elections, represents Valhalla. Lawler was present at Wednesday’s event, as noted by the president.
“Mike’s on the other team,” Biden stated before turning his remarks to the “extreme ‘ wing of the Republican Party. “But he’s not one of these MAGA Republicans.”
“They refer to themselves as the MAGA Republicans, and they’ve taken control of the House. They’re doing, to the best of knowledge, what no other political party has done in the nation’s history. They’re literally, not physically, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt.”
“Yesterday, I brought the congressional leaders together at the White House to make sure America doesn’t default on U.S. debt,” he continued. “I know the speaker keeps saying, ’93 days ago, I said to Biden, “I want to talk to him,”‘ and I said fine. I said, ‘You put down your budget, I’ll put down mine.'”
“Here’s what will happen if MAGA Republicans get their way. America defaults on our debt, higher interest rates for credit cards, car loans, mortgage payments,” Biden claimed. “Social Security, Medicare, troops, veterans could all be halted or delayed. According, again, to Moody’s, 8 million Americans will lose their jobs, including 400,000 New Yorkers alone.”
“If we default on our debt, the whole world is in trouble. This is a manufactured crisis. There’s no question about America’s ability to pay [the] bills. America’s the strongest economy in the world, and we should be cutting spending and lowering the deficit without a needless crisis in a responsible way,” he concluded.
Biden met with McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at the White House on Tuesday, and the group will reconvene on Friday following two days of staff-level meetings.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Biden said he “made clear” to McCarthy that “default is not an option.”
The president also said that he was “considering” using the 14th Amendment to avoid default but cautioned against that possibility, claiming that it would “be litigated, and in the meantime, without an extension, it’d still end up in the same place.”
Recent polling indicates that nearly 40% of respondents would hold Republicans responsible for a default this summer, while 35% would say the same of Biden.
Furthermore, roughly 60% side with Biden in saying that the debt ceiling and federal spending levels should be negotiated separately.
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You can watch Biden’s remarks in full below.
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