President Joe Biden chided Republicans on Monday for "fiscally demented" for their stance on the economy.
Biden, during his address at the National Action Network's annual breakfast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, said that Republicans will "talk about big-spending Democrats again. Guess what? I reduced the deficit last year $350 billion. This year, federal deficit is down $1 trillion-plus. That's a fact. And there's gonna be hundreds of billions reduced over the next decade. But so what? These guys are the fiscally demented, I think. They don't quite get it."
Biden also commented on bills proposed by the GOP.
"Like many Americans, I was disappointed to see the very first bill that House Republicans … are bringing to the floor. It would help the wealthy people and big corporations cheat on their taxes at the expense of ordinary middle-class taxpayers … This is their first bill, and they campaigned on inflation. They didn't say if elected their plan was to make inflation worse."
Biden also rebuked Republicans in an apparent reference to critical race theory, saying it's "talking about history," and adding, "the idea that we're supposed to remain silent on the abuses of the past as if they didn't occur? That's not being woke. That's being honest."
Biden reiterated his goal of banning assault weapons, ensuring protections for abortion rights, and pardoning marijuana offenses. He also defended his plan to forgive student loan debt and criticized Republicans for their opposition.
"These are the same folks who didn't have any problem at all during the pandemic … [making] sure they get these so-called pandemic relief loans … A lot of these folks in the Congress on the Republican side were beneficiaries of these debt relief loans to the tune of tens of millions of dollars," Biden said.
He added: "I did not hear a word from them about, 'They shouldn't be getting that relief.' … And they're complaining about some kid being able to take away $20,000 of student debt that keeps him and his wife or his husband, her husband from being able to buy a home or start a business or just get going?"
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