Is Joe Biden 'puppet' for Nancy Pelosi? GOP slams POTUS for failing to 'compromise' on cross-party Covid-19 deal
Is Joe Biden’s response to GOP’s proposed Covid-19 relief bill influenced by far-left Democrats? Republicans have branded the President as the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “puppet”, suggesting he refused to "compromise" on the cross-party coronavirus deal while citing his “cognitive decline” as the reason.
“Senate Republicans have suggested Biden is ignoring his gut instinct to broker a bipartisan coronavirus relief deal due to pressure from unelected White House advisers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer,” according to a Washington Examiner report.
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It further notes that even though GOP’s “puppet” tactic played out well during the 2020 campaign, it wouldn’t work well now after Biden took to his office in the White House. They are being warned against the same by their own party members, who believe “Biden’s COVID relief bill enjoys strong support from the country.”
Republican strategist Evan Siegfried told the publication, "The hostage to the Left argument does not seem to be moving the needle much with the broader public, as Biden's Covid-19 relief bill enjoys strong support from the country.”
The report details how the “puppet” tactic traced its roots back to the Republican campaign which dubbed the president as an “empty vessel" or "Trojan horse”, specifically after he picked Kamala Harris as his Vice-President pick.
The report explains how ”The rhetoric is based on the idea that Biden ‘is suffering from cognitive decline,’ according to Siegfried. Biden, 78, is the oldest president in history. And for Siegfried, it also pegs Biden as ‘weak,’ which ‘no president wants to be seen as.’”
Republicans' claims of Biden’s “cognitive decline” came after the president met with 10 Senate Republicans to discuss the COVID-19 relief bill. The Republicans had proposed a $618 billion counteroffer to Biden’s $1.9 trillion ‘American Rescue Plan’.
Following the meeting, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and White House press secretary Jen Psaki described it as “productive”, but, the latter reportedly has stated that Biden would be willing to “press ahead using the fast-track budgetary procedure known as reconciliation”.
This means the president will not need the votes of the Republicans if both parties do not reach a common ground. Psaki reportedly said, "He will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly blaming administration aides including White House chief of staff Ron Klain, and congressional Democrats for Biden’s refusal to “compromise”.
“Our members who were in the meeting felt that the president seemed to be more interested in [bipartisanship] than his staff did, or it seems like the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate,” McConnell said.
Meanwhile, Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy has noted that Biden’s numbers were “solid but not spectacular." He further added that Biden had only been in office for two weeks and “events yet to come will shape his job performance.”
“Whether one supports Joe Biden or not, it's hard to make the argument that people don’t know him or don’t understand where he comes from on issues. He has been navigating the turgid waters of government for decades," Malloy told the publication.