Joe Biden Struggles to Explain Delaying Debt Negotiations

President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit during an event at SUNY Westchester Community
John Minchillo/AP
Wendell Husebø

President Joe Biden on Wednesday struggled to explain why he delayed negotiating with House Republicans on raising the debt ceiling.

Speaking at SUNY Westchester Community College in New York with a backdrop that resembled former President Donald Trump’s stage setting, Biden spoke about “why Congress must avoid default immediately,” even though negotiations were delayed on the brink of default.

Financial experts predict the federal government will run out of money as soon as June 1. In April, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill to avoid default and cut wasteful spending. Biden waited over 93 days to have a “conversation” on Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on the subject.

“I know the speaker keeps saying 93 days ago,” Biden said. “I said [to McCarthy], ‘You put down your budget, I’ll put down mine.'”

“I laid mine down in detail on the ninth of March,” Biden explained. “He didn’t put his so-called budget, whatever you call it, the connecting of two items,” Biden referenced the House bill the GOP passed.

“Five days after he did it, I invited him to the White House … to make sure America doesn’t default on its debt,” Biden defended.

Biden also appeared defensive Tuesday when he acknowledged in a primetime speech it took five days for him to invite McCarthy to negotiate on raising the debt ceiling to prevent default.

“Five days later, after he finally put forward something, I called on him to invite him to a meeting with the other leading members of Congress,” Biden admitted.

On Wednesday, Biden argued that government spending should not be slashed because inflation is coming down.

“In part, our policies are and the pace of our annual inflation has been coming down for ten months in a row. It’s still slowed by 45 percent,” Biden claimed. “This is no time to put all of this at risk, to threaten a recession, to put at risk millions of jobs.”

Biden then asserted the Republican bill would hurt his economy.

Biden’s economy is riddled with systemic inflation.

“Republican threats are dangerous and they make no sense,” he said. “Folks, we have to keep going and finish the job. I’ve long said, ‘It’s never, ever, ever been a good bet to bet against America.'”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

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