FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers responded after President Biden called them ‘fiscally demented’ on Monday.
Biden attacked Republicans while speaking at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event on Monday while making misleading statements about lowering the federal deficit.
The president whispered into the microphone his repetitious claim of reducing the federal deficit ‘by $350 billion’ that garnered ‘Three Pinocchios’ from the Washington Post before claiming he was reducing the deficit even more this year.
‘And this year? The federal deficit is down $1 trillion-plus. Hear me, that’s a fact,’ Biden said. The president is using baseline numbers from 2020, when spending was at its height during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden then attacked Republicans, calling them ‘fiscally demented.’
‘These guys, they’re fiscally demented, I think,’ Biden said. ‘They don’t quite get it.’
Several Republican lawmakers spoke out about Biden’s dig, with newly-minted Senator Katie Britt of Alabama saying ‘President Biden’s reckless tax-and-spend policies have fueled generationally high inflation and crushed Americans who are simply trying to make ends meet.’
‘He’s hired 87,000 new IRS agents, while leaving our Border Patrol agents short-handed to deal with the unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis he caused at the border,’ Britt said. ‘And he’s turned to just about every foreign adversary possible instead of unleashing American energy independence.’
‘Meanwhile, Republicans want to keep more money in hardworking families’ pockets, make life more affordable, not leave our children and our children’s children with a crippling national debt, secure the border, safeguard our communities from violent crime and the fentanyl epidemic, protect parental rights, and ensure our military is the best equipped, resourced, and trained in the world to keep our service members safe and our nation strong,’ the Alabama Republican continued.
‘I’m confident that the American people know which of these agendas is radical and which is simply good common sense,’ she added.
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, told Fox News Digital that since ‘President Biden took office, prices have risen 13.7%, inflation has been above 6% for 15 consecutive months, and the U.S. debt has reached over $30 trillion for the first time in history.’
‘Despite what the President claims, the Democrats’ reckless spending will add $4.8 trillion in new deficit spending over the next 10 years,’ Blackburn said. ‘If wanting a balanced budget is ‘fiscally demented,’ I’m not sure what you would call the economic devastation under President Biden’s leadership.’
Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson blasted Biden, telling Fox News Digital the president ‘has absolutely zero self-awareness.’
‘Attacking Republicans, calling us ‘fiscally demented’ while Washington Democrats spent at historic levels during the Biden administration to fund their Green New Deal and other liberal priorities is hypocritical,’ Jackson said. ‘The new Republican House majority is dedicated to improving the lives of the American people by lowering taxes, balancing the budget, and working to get our country out of debt. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is dead set on putting America LAST!’
The Republicans’ retorts come as Biden faces down a growing scandal over his handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency.
Two batches of classified documents have been found at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and the president’s Wilmington, Delaware garage next to his Corvette.
The White House Counsel’s Office told Fox News Digital on Monday that the president’s Delaware residence does not have visitor logs.