President Biden sticks it to Mitch McConnell
Now that the White House has largely returned to normalcy and media efforts to spin non-events into Biden scandals are laughably going up in flames, they’ve largely turned to the drama in a 50-50 Senate with as much legislation as they possibly can. The problem is that the stories about the Senate and Congress in general tend to play “both sides,” that both Democrats and Republicans are equally responsible for the gridlock and failure to work together, despite the numerous instances that prove one side is considerably more responsible than the other when it comes to not wanting anything done. Mitch McConnell has openly admitted his dedication to obstructing the agendas of not one but two Democratic presidents, regardless of how beneficial the agenda is to the rest of the country.
Fortunately, President Biden, who served in the Senate alongside McConnell for many years, has grown wise to this gambit and called him out on it Wednesday when talking with reporters. Pressing him on infrastructure legislation, reporters reminded the president about McConnell’s refusal to work with him, which could have made headlines as just more of the same drama – two politicians playing the blame game.
President Biden seized the opportunity however – and rather than saying he hopes Republicans will work with him, he said: “Mitch McConnell loves our programs…He’s bragging about it in Kentucky.” He knows that despite Republican refusals to come to the table, they’ll try and take credit for any and all legislation passed when it’s done, so he’s putting the heat on Republicans and making sure the story is why McConnell and co are refusing to work on popular legislation.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making