President Joe Biden hit back at Republicans who heckled him during his State of the Union address over his assertion that some GOP lawmakers want to curb Social Security and Medicare benefits.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden hit back at Republicans who heckled him during his State of the Union address over his assertion that some GOP lawmakers want to curb Social Security and Medicare benefits.
“They sure didn’t like me calling them on it,” Biden said Wednesday at a campaign-style rally near Madison, Wisconsin.
Republicans repeatedly interrupted Biden’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night with jeers, most memorably when Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene pointed a finger at Biden and yelled “Liar!” repeatedly from the back row.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene and others stood up and said, ‘liar, liar.’ Reminds me of, ‘liar, liar house on fire,’” Biden said Wednesday as he reiterated his claim about Republicans’ plans for entitlement programs.
Read more: Biden Baits Republicans With Unity Pleas That Provoke Catcalls
The president gloated that he appeared to get congressional Republicans to back down from any attempt to slash entitlement programs as part of a package to raise the US debt limit.
“It sounded like they agreed to take these cuts off the table,” Biden said. “I’ll believe it when I see it, and their budget’s laid down with the cuts they’re proposing. But it looks like we negotiated a deal last night on the floor of the House of Representatives.”
If Republicans act on their “dream” of cutting Social Security and Medicare, Biden said, he would make it their “nightmare” by vetoing it. The reality is that any measure cutting those programs is unlikely to reach his desk, given that Democrats control the Senate.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has also said entitlement program cuts are off the table in upcoming talks over raising the federal debt ceiling.
Biden again targeted a now-revised plan put forth by Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida that would have ended all federal laws after five years if they were not reauthorized by Congress, potentially including entitlement programs.
In his remarks Tuesday night and again Wednesday, Biden test drove his 2024 campaign message, touting his economic achievements and painting a stark contrast with Republicans.
“We’ve imported products from abroad and sent jobs overseas because they thought it was cheaper to have cheaper labor. Now, America is exporting product. overseas and creating jobs here at home,” he said.
Wednesday’s event marked the start of a travel blitz to key battleground states. Biden won Wisconsin over former President Donald Trump by less than a percentage point in 2020.
Biden’s team is fanning out across the country this week to deliver similar messages. Vice President Kamala Harris and Cabinet secretaries are scheduled to visit 20 states and host more than 30 events over two days. Harris traveled to Atlanta on Wednesday to tout about the administration’s clean-energy programs.
Biden is expected to formally launch his 2024 reelection campaign this spring, and Harris reiterated Wednesday in an interview with CBS News that she intended to again be his running mate.
–With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Justin Sink.
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