New Delhi: US President Joe Biden, who was delivering the State of the Union speech on Tuesday, was interrupted by Republican members as they booed and yelled at him when he criticized some Republicans for proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
“I’m not saying it’s the majority,” Biden said. “Other Republicans say if we don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, they’ll let America default on its debt for the first time in our history. I won’t let that happen.” The statement immediately prompted boos and shouting from several Republican members who were taken aback by Biden’s statement.
Some Republicans who were seated got up from their seats to object.
Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called Biden a “liar” after he raised the ongoing conflict in Congress over raising the debt limit.
In his speech, Biden said that ‘some’ Republicans were willing to go to extreme measures to get what they wanted out of the crisis.
Loud boos and yelling erupt when President Biden says Republicans are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts liar at him. #NexstarDC pic.twitter.com/t4NpCOYcza
— Hannah Brandt (@HannahBrandt_TV) February 8, 2023
“Well I’m glad – I’ll tell ya, I enjoy conversion,” Biden said. “It means if Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they’d go away. Other Republicans say – I’m not saying it’s a majority of you… but it’s being proposed by an individual.”
“I’m politely not naming them, but it is being proposed by somebody,” Biden added. “Anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I’ll give you a copy of the proposal,” Biden said. Greene then repeatedly shouted “Liar!” from the back of the chamber.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who took over as speaker of the House last month, reappointed Greene, an extremist, to key committee assignments that Democrats had stripped her of in 2021 over violent and racist comments.
Social Security and Medicare remain two of the federal government’s most expensive and popular programs which have for long triggered heated debate during discussions about the national debt and federal spending.
Biden claimed that the proposal wasn’t popular, even among the Republicans on the hill, but stressed it was being pushed by some on the right.
The proposal Biden referenced comes from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, but it is yet to be endorsed by the majority of the Republican Party. It calls for a Congressional vote on the two programmes to take place every five years in order to keep them operating.