Joe Biden, writes Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire, “has prioritized deal-making throughout the debt ceiling talks. But with GOP obstinate, Biden is changing tactics.”
What in the hell is he talking about, you may wonder. Only last month, Lemaire’s publication reported that Biden was “happy to meet” with Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy but “not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended. That’s not negotiable.” (Italics mine.) That doesn’t sound like someone who’s “prioritized deal-making” on the debt ceiling. Back in January, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was unequivocal in saying that, “We will not be doing any negotiation over the debt ceiling.” On April 27th, the Washington Post reported, “White House reiterates refusal to negotiate on debt limit as pressure mounts.”
Biden’s position was widely known and defended. A slew of columns from Democrats like Dan Pfeiffer, an advisor to Barack Obama, laid out why Biden shouldn’t negotiate with Kevin McCarthy. Lefty reporter Ronald Brownstein attempted to rationalize the “Logic Behind Biden’s Refusal to Negotiate the Debt Ceiling”— which, not that long ago, was called “obstructionism” or “nihilism.”
Back in February, it was McCarthy who invited Biden to sit down. The president kept promising he would not negotiate, presumably to apply pressure by scaremongering voters about a potentially ruinous default. And that was Biden’s prerogative. However, the idea, as Lemire would have you believe, that the president has shown a “reluctance to play hardball” is a complete myth. Biden is no Henry Clay. This is a president
