President Biden made several bipartisan proposals in his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, but if he had hopes of uniting Congress and the country behind his agenda, those hopes appear dashed as many Republicans say they are “blatantly lying” and feed divisions
Republican lawmakers are furious with the president, who accused them of wanting to hold the economy “hostage” and end Social Security and Medicare. Biden’s remarks were met with hoarse boos in the House chamber, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, seen yelling “Liar!” to the president. Others joined in on social media during and after Biden’s speech.
“The president simply relapsed into outright lying about the Republican Party’s positions to scare senior citizens into voting for him,” the representative said. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, tweeted from his account.
In a follow-up statement to his official account, Crenshaw described Biden’s speech as “a long, disjointed, rambling cacophony of lies with a side of gaslighting added for good measure.”
“SOTU could be an opportunity to give us ‘state of the union.’ Tell us why America is great and why we have many great years ahead of us,” he said. “Instead, President Biden wasted our time spewing campaign-style trash, lying about the GOP’s position on important issues, and causing division instead of unity.”
Biden’s impeachment is a talking point that has already been debunked by fact-checkers. His claim that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security gone” is based on a bill released by Sen. Florida Republican Rick Scott last year. Scott proposed that “all federal legislation expire in 5 years. If a law is worth supporting, Congress can pass it again.”
Although Scott’s proposal was largely rejected by Republicans and denounced by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Democrats welcomed Scott’s proposal and said Republicans wanted to cancel Social Security and Medicare rights.
The Washington Post and other fact-checkers have declared the Democrats’ claim “false.”
Scott called Biden after the State of the Union address, saying that he is “clearly confused” and that “no one believes his lies about the weather or my plan to save America.”
Representative of the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee Jerry Carl, R-Ala., the top Republican on the spending control committee, said flatly, “The president is lying when he says Republicans want to cut Medicare or Social Security.”
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee also accused Biden of lying, with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., saying the president “should be ashamed of himself.”
The reaction to Biden’s statement in the House of Representatives was so strong that the president withdrew his comments. “I’m not saying it’s a majority of you. I don’t even think it’s significant, but it’s being put forward by individuals,” Biden said. “Please don’t name them, but some of you are proposing it.”
In the face of continued booing, Biden acknowledged that Congress had agreed to leave Social Security and Medicare intact.
”Let’s all agree, and, we do, we stand up for the elderly,” Biden said.
“We’re not going to cut Social Security. We’re not going to cut Medicare,” he continued. “If anyone tries to cut Social Security, which they don’t want to, and if anyone tries, and Medicare, I’m going to stop it. I’m vetoing it.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., applauded.
