The United States is hurtling towards its June 1 debt ceiling deadline, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warning that "there can be no acceptable outcomes" if a deal isn't reached.
Yet despite the stakes, President Joe Biden recently disowned any consequences if the government should default.
According to Fox News, Biden made the statement during a news conference on Sunday at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
"I've done my part," Fox News quoted the president as saying when he was asked about debt ceiling negotiations. He added that "it's time for the other side to move their team positions because much of what they were proposed is simply quite frankly, unacceptable."
.@POTUS: “It’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions because much of what they’ve already proposed is simply, quite frankly, unacceptable.”
pic.twitter.com/r5gBpbbhMF— Rob Friedlander (@RFriedlander46) May 21, 2023
That led Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy to ask, "Mr. President, on the debt limit, you said already, 'I've done my part.' Do you think if there's a breach, nobody can blame you?"
Biden jokingly responded with, "Of course no one will blame me, I know you won't, you'll be saying Biden did a wonderful job."
When Doocy then inquired as to whether the president would consider himself "blameless in a default situation," Biden answered affirmatively.
"On the merits, based on what I've offered, I would be blameless," the president insisted. "On the politics of it, no one would be blameless."
"And by the way, that's one of the, one of the things some [people] are contemplating. Well, I gotta be careful here," he added.
"I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy and because I am president, and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame. And that's the one way to make sure Biden's not re-elected," the president remarked.
For his part, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that blame for the situation lies with Biden's refusal to curtail spending.
He told host Maria Bartiromo that the president wishes to dole out "more money than we spent at the height of the pandemic."
President Biden wants to spend MORE money than the federal government did at the height of the pandemic.
American taxpayers just cannot afford to keep borrowing money from China. pic.twitter.com/yBNCLaSUmG
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 22, 2023
