US President Joe Biden abstains from discussion in debt limit talks
Where is Joe Biden? As the United States teeters on the edge of an economic cliff, the question resonates across Washington.
Republicans and Democrats tried hard on Friday to strike a deal ahead of next week’s possible US debt default deadline.
Biden’s agenda this Friday included members of the men’s and women’s college basketball teams being crowned at the White House before leaving for the weekend.
Is he really missing in action as the country grapples with the biggest economic crisis since he took office? Or is he like one of those silent killers who cleverly strategizes behind the scenes?
In Congress, Democrats usually loyal to the president have spent weeks complaining to the media that Biden has gone AWOL, and that Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy is winning the public relations battle.
Politico quoted a Democratic representative as saying, “It’s time to remove the president from the bench or get someone off the bench.” The MLA said, “I had never seen this before.”
Another Democratic lawmaker, even more outspoken, told CNN: “The White House communications strategy is an atrocity.” “Where is the President? Is he at an unknown location?”
– Beaten by McCarthy? ,
A jet-lagged Biden met with McCarthy in the Oval Office on Monday, just after flying from Japan, where he was attending the G7 summit.
He hasn’t been seen since then, or he’s dealing with other things, such as this Friday’s incident with basketball players.
On Thursday, at a ceremony to introduce an Air Force general as his nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Biden offered an update on the debt crisis, but his remarks lasted just three minutes.
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A debt deal would require significant concessions from Democrats.
The ruling party would agree to Republican demands to limit spending on various programs, only to remove the debt cap, something it has done unconditionally for decades.
Biden has repeatedly reiterated in these months that he would not accept such a transaction.
According to polls, Americans blamed the disaster on all sides, ignoring the president’s message that Republicans have held the economy hostage to politically motivated spending cuts.
Meanwhile, McCarthy is living out his glory days. His regular television appearances and press conferences are in sharp contrast to the president’s low profile.
By now McCarthy was seen as having limited influence within his own party, which was dominated by a hard and unchecked right.
The conservative writer said, “There are many ways to measure the decline of Joe Biden, political and otherwise, but now something unexpected is happening: One of the weakest House Speakers in living memory is leading a high-stakes deal.” Dam.
– I know what I do –
At age 80, with a career spanning four decades in the Senate and eight years as vice president, Biden wants Americans to remember he knows what he’s doing.
According to his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, the president is managing a strategy that requires “space and time” from negotiators, members of Congress and White House staff.
House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jefferies, Says Republican Claims He’s Been on the Sidelines Is “A False Story.”
In his two years as president, the Democrat has been able to move like a cat through firewood to score some spectacular parliamentary victories, although on other occasions he has stayed in the background.
In fact, he still has some margin.
Biden says he has no regrets for the way he has behaved. “I did my part,” he told reporters last week. But he said he also acknowledged the difficulties of politics.
Even if on the “merits” of the case he would be “innocent” of the termination of payments, “the president is responsible for everything,” he acknowledged.
