Mitch, Please: Biden Brushes Off McConnell’s Vow To Put ‘100 Percent’ Of His Focus On ‘Stopping’ Admin

President Joe Biden speaks during an event with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on March 10, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wo... President Joe Biden speaks during an event with the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on March 10, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Joe Biden signaled on Wednesday that he wasn’t shaken by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) fervid pledge to fully dedicate himself to obstructing the administration’s agenda.

Biden pointed out during a Q&A with reporters that, as former President Barack Obama can attest, McConnell’s promise to go scorched-earth isn’t exactly brand new.

“Look, he said that in our last administration [with] Barack, [that] he was going to stop everything,” the President said. “And I was able to get a lot done with him.”

Biden also pushed back against McConnell and other Republicans’ complaint that his agenda, including the sweeping infrastructure plan, is too expensive.

“Look, everything I’m proposing that be done to generate economic growth, employment, and put us in a position where we can out-compete any other country in the world with research and development, and moving ahead, I pay for,” he said.

Earlier that day, McConnell told reporters that “one hundred percent of my focus is on stopping this new administration.”

The Republican leader claimed that Biden “may have won the nomination” but Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “won the argument about what the new administration should be like.”

“We are confronted with severe challenges from the new administration and a narrow majority in the House and a 50-50 Senate to turn American into a socialist country, and that’s 100 percent of my focus,” McConnell said.

The GOP senator’s remarks recall his infamous declaration in 2010 that “the single most important thing” Republicans “want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Mitch, Please

    Nice touch Ms Cabrera.

  2. That “make Democrat one-term President” didn’t work out so well last time for him.
    Heh.

  3. I suspect it’s not going to work so well for the Party of Insurrection this time round, either; although, we may have to wait until after the mid-terms to see the price they pay.

  4. There may be a 50:50 Senate, but the overwhelming majority of Americans voted for Biden and his agenda over Trump and those 50 Democratic Senators represent a lot more people than do the 50 Republican Senators.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

97 more replies

Participants

Avatar for slbinva Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for zandru Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for sysprog Avatar for eldonlazar Avatar for bobatkinson Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for rollinnolan Avatar for randyabraham Avatar for digitusmedius Avatar for leeks Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for jquas2sunset Avatar for maximus Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for captaintangent Avatar for emkelly Avatar for bcgister Avatar for yellowbeard Avatar for majesticunicorn Avatar for emiliano4

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: