As negotiations on the debt ceiling reach a critical point, politicians have been scrambling to piece together a deal. However, it appears that left–wing news outlet Politico is unable to help constructively here and instead has decided to launch a shameless rewriting of history to protect President Joe Biden.
In a recent three–sentence article, Politico journalist Johnathan Lemire asserted that Biden has been “prioritizing deal–making” and that Republicans are “obstinate” in the negotiations. This analysis flies in the face of much of the reporting on the matter.
Throughout the entire process, President Biden has not once prioritized deal–making or negotiations. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean–Pierre summed this up succinctly in mid–May when she declared “we’ve been very clear – the president is not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling.”
This lack of effort to find an agreement between the parties was reflected in that the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed with just 50 votes, all from Democrats. Politico, however, bizarrely suggested the act was an example of “consensus building” on the part of Biden, giving the president unwarranted praise.
The attempt to exonerate Biden from any potential consequences of a default even drew the ire of the president himself. At the G7 Summit in Japan, Biden predicted the media would “insist he’s not to blame” and sure enough, Politico appears to be adhering to this narrative.
The piece from Lemire prompted Republican lawmakers to speak out, condemning the article as a “disgrace“. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham asserted on Fox News that the article illustrates the media’s “desire to protect Joe Biden” and called on Politico to “correct the record”.
For their part, Politico appears to be standing by their article, but they’re facing criticism for its willful attempt to construct its own false version of history. With negotiations this week coming to a climax, it appears the outlet may be attempting to absolve the White House of any culpability should the debt ceiling talks fail to pass.
It remains to be seen if the two parties can reach an agreement on the matter, but what is certain is that no amount of doubletalk from Politico is going to be able to hide the fact that President Biden is to blame should the negotiations fall through.
