President Joe Biden lashed out at a reporter for asking about the debt ceiling crisis, just weeks away before the deadline.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Biden took a few questions from reporters when one of them asked about the president making any budget cuts after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he had not gotten any answers from him about any cuts.
Biden lashes out at a reporter for asking him about budget cuts: "You didn't listen either, so why should I even answer the question? We cut the deficit by $160 billion! Billion! B-I-L-L-I-O-N." pic.twitter.com/BIRKt6DSET
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“He got a specific answer. He got a specific answer again today. The first —,” Biden said, before being interrupted by the reporter, asking: “Which is what?”
“Well, you didn’t listen either. So why should I even answer the question?” the president clapped back. “We cut the deficit by $160 billion — billion — B-I-L-O-I-O-N — dollars on the Medicare deal. We cut the deficit by raising the tax on people making — 55 corporations that made $40 billion to 15 percent. And the list goes on.”
The catty back-and-forth went on until the commander-in-chief shut down the reporter’s query entirely and moved on to the next question.
“Does it say what it’s going to cut or just say generically it’s going to cut?” he asked. “You get the problem. You’ve answered.”
This comes after administration officials revealed earlier this month that Biden has no plans to negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit, even after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that Congress may only have until June 1 to avoid a disastrous economic downturn.
The approach reflects the White House’s belief that they cannot create a model for the opposition to use the debt ceiling as a political negotiating chip. It also shows continued confidence in the fact that Biden still has the upper hand in a debt ceiling staredown and that a crisis point was only a matter of when, not if, the two sides would come to blows.
For months, the president has vowed not to engage in debt ceiling negotiations, calling Republicans’ demands for concessions “hostage taking” that might damage the country’s global reputation and economic stability.
McCarthy also chimed in by declaring that a “no clean debt ceiling” increase would ultimately make it through the chamber after passing a GOP-led bill of spending cuts tied to a debt limit increase in the House earlier this month. He previously said that Biden has “refused to do his job” while “the clock is ticking.”
