House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has accused Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) of wielding an outsized influence over President Joe Biden during debt ceiling negotiations.
McCarthy reiterated his comments the previous day, alleging that Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) had a "real effect" on Biden during the negotiations. Speaking on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures, McCarthy cited a press conference by Sanders when talks on the debt ceiling reversed.
"He really wags the dog," McCarthy said when asked if Sanders was leading the shift in the White House's debt ceiling negotiations. "I mean, when Bernie Sanders or AOC says something, the White House shifts the other way."
The press conference that McCarthy believed shifted Biden's willingness to negotiate was a Friday press conference of Democratic Senators led by Sanders. During the meeting, Sanders stated that accepting Republican demands to make spending cuts would cause "incalculable harm."
"Yesterday, Senators stood together to urge President Biden not to cave to Republican demands to make cuts that would cause incalculable harm to the American people. Instead, we believe he should prepare to use the 14th Amendment," Sanders said.
McCarthy repeated his sentiment at the Capitol on Sunday while speaking with reporters.
"The president keeps changing positions; every time Bernie Sanders has a press conference, he gets reactive, and he shifts," McCarthy said.
"He's got to get away from the socialist wing of the Democratic party and represent America; that means both sides have to have compromise," he added.
The California Republican also expressed broader frustrations with negotiations, saying that the President's constant shifting harmed negotiations.
"Waiting those 97 days and now changing positions every day, that's not productive," he said.
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