Biden blasts Sen. Rick Scott for calling him ‘incapacitated and confused’
President Biden returned fire Tuesday at Sen. Rick Scott, saying the Florida Republican “has a problem” when asked about Scott’s assertion that the president is mentally incapacitated and should resign to help fix soaring inflation.
CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe asked about Scott after Biden made a series of gaffes during White House remarks on inflation. At one point, Biden misidentified Scott’s home state as Wisconsin and stated that Democrats “control all three branches of government.”
“Earlier today, anticipating your remarks, [Scott] said and I’m just quoting here, that the best thing, ‘most effective thing Joe Biden can do to solve the inflation crisis he created is resign. He’s the problem,'” began O’Keefe, quoting a statement released by Scott ahead of Biden’s speech.
“Resign? That’s a good idea,” Biden scoffed.
O’Keefe continued, “The senator added later, ‘Joe Biden is unwell, he’s unfit for office, he’s incoherent, incapacitated and confused.’ These are his words. I’m offering you a chance to respond to that.”
Biden said, “I think the man has a problem.”
Scott, chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, tweeted shortly afterward, “The president just said I’m from Wisconsin… @JoeBiden is so incapacitated and incoherent, he can’t even keep his states straight.”
In a subsequent interview on Fox News reacting to Biden’s remarks, Scott said the president “took no responsibility” for inflation “and he has no plan.”
“We have 8.5% inflation. We’ve got the highest gas prices ever. We’ve got low labor participation. We’ve got a GDP that is declining. We’ve got mortgage rates skyrocketing. We’ve got a stock market going down,” Scott told host Harris Faulkner. “So, he doesn’t have ideas. He was confusing. He put up no ideas [for] what he was going to get done.”
Republicans routinely attack Biden’s mental fitness for office. The commander-in-chief turns 80 in November and already is the oldest-ever US president.
Scott slammed Biden after the White House seized on some of his policy positions to assert that Republicans will raise taxes if they win this year’s midterm elections — by requiring everyone to pay some taxes — and potentially let programs like Social Security expire by requiring all laws to be reauthorized every five years.
The Washington Post’s fact check column rated the attack as false, awarding Biden three “Pinocchios” last month.
“Scott’s tax plan is certainly ripe for political fodder, but the White House is pushing its luck here,” columnist Glenn Kessler wrote. “Scott is a Republican, and he is in Congress and part of the GOP leadership. But his snippet of an idea, such as it is, cannot be labeled a ‘congressional Republican’ plan. No legislation has been crafted, and no other Republican lawmakers have announced their support.”
But Biden pressed forward with the line of attack on Tuesday, branding Scott and fellow Republicans as adherents of an “Ultra-MAGA” agenda, referring to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra.
“Sen. Rick Scott of Wisconsin [Florida], a member of the Senate Republican leadership, laid it all out in a plan, it’s the Ultra-MAGA agenda. Their plan is to raise taxes on 75 million American families,” Biden said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday said that Biden thought up the term “Ultra-MAGA” by himself.
“Who came up with this phrase ‘Ultra-MAGA’? Why the need to to kick it up a notch? MAGA wasn’t enough?” ABC News reporter Mary Bruce asked Psaki at a briefing.
“It’s the president’s phrase,” the press secretary explained, “and the president made those comments himself just last week, as you know, and I think what struck him is how extreme some of the policies and proposals are that a certain wing of the Republican Party that is taking up too much of the Republican Party are for.”
