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Some members of the most far-right group of House Republicans, the Freedom Caucus, admitted Tuesday their goals are to defeat the debt ceiling agreement, thereby killing the economy, which some of them believe would then help Donald Trump win back the White House in 2024.
Many of the House Freedom Caucus members are tied to the January 6, 2021 insurrection, by various methods, including supporting efforts to overturn state elections and spreading false claims about the results of the 2020 presidential election.
U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) in Tuesday’s Freedom Caucus’s press conference pointed to the portion of the debt ceiling agreement, brokered by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which says the nation’s debt limit will not have to be raised until 2025. Outraged, Congressman Bishop admitted Republicans had wanted to have another debt ceiling fight next year, which would, he claimed, help a Republican presidential candidate win the White House.
Surrounded by far-right Republican Representatives Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert, Chip Roy, Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry, former Freedom Caucus chair Andy Biggs, and others, Bishop angrily complained, “And what does the device of two years do?”
“It removes the issue from the national conversation during the presidential election to come. How could you more successfully kneecap any Republican President than to take that issue out of his or her hands?” Bishop asked, fully and freely admitting the GOP is trying to use the levers of government, and the U.S. and even global economy, to put a Republican back in the White House, regardless of cost to the American people.
As he spoke Rep. Boebert’s head was nodding in agreement.
that’s right! pic.twitter.com/kmy83gEzWZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 30, 2023
Sirius XM host and journalist Dean Obeidallah blasted the North Carolina Republican: “GOP Dan Bishop says quiet part out loud: MAGA wanted to use debt ceiling in 2024 to tank economy to help Trump win.”
Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry, who the Select Committee on the January 6 Attack reportedly saw as “central” to its investigation, also spoke at Tuesday’s press conference.
Rep. Perry tried to spin conspiracy theories, including by claiming that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has not been telling the truth on when America’s cash will run out.
“We’ve asked for Janet Yellen’s figures. And with all due respect, she comes with zero credibility to the discussion,” Perry claimed, falsely. “We don’t believe her figures, we’ve asked to see her figures.”
And he admitted Freedom Caucus members “will be absolutely opposed to the deal and will do everything in our power to stop it.”
Q: “Help us understand your plan…is it that your going to roll the dice and assume that the default deadline isn’t real?”
Scott Perry: “We’ve asked for Janet Yellen’s figures. And with all due respect, she comes with zero credibility…We don’t believe her figures.” pic.twitter.com/29uePmZwwu
— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) May 30, 2023
Calling it a “bad deal…that we all campaigned to put an end to,” Freedom Caucus member Lauren Boebert also spoke at the press conference, declaring, “There is nothing real in this bill to enforce. In short, tomorrow’s bill is a bunch of fake news and fake talking points.”
“There is nothing real in this bill to enforce. In short, tomorrow’s bill is a bunch of fake news and fake talking points.”
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) slams the new debt limit agreement at a House Freedom Caucus news conference pic.twitter.com/OkgtWfjxUf
— The Recount (@therecount) May 30, 2023
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) called the debt ceiling deal “crap.”
“Washington is doing it again,” Rep. Donalds declared, apparently attacking his own party since Republicans have the majority of the House seats.
“While you were celebrating Memorial Day, all of our men and women who gave their lives for this great nation, and you were spending time with your family and your friends, this town was cutting another crap deal that’s going to put you more in debt with no real changes whatsoever.”
“Washington is lying, again,” said Donalds.
“While you were celebrating Memorial Day … this town was cutting another crap deal that’s going to put you more in debt with no real changes whatsoever.”
— Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) says the current debt limit bill isn’t “cool at all” at House Freedom Caucus news conference pic.twitter.com/Q8hsJ4rr7I
— The Recount (@therecount) May 30, 2023
Republican turned Democrat, attorney Ron Filipkowski mocked the extremist GOP lawmakers.
“The Freedom Caucus members just climbed out of their clown car, and are upset that their cult leader won’t be able to run for president on a crashed economy,” he tweeted.
“Wait,” tweeted Seth Kaplan, the managing editor for Fox affiliate stations in the Twin Cities. “He wants to help ensure a catastrophic economic situation just so it can be a talking point during the 2024 election? Please tell me I’m misinterpreting.”
Earlier this month journalist Jay Bookman observed, “So basically, the debt ceiling crisis is just another version of the Jan. 6 insurrection: Give us what we want, or we’re going to tear the whole damn thing down.”
Reps. Scott Perry, Dan Bishop, Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, and other Freedom Caucus members earned a “very poor” grade by the Republican Accountability Project, which has been tracking Republicans in the wake of the 2021 insurrection.
Among the criteria for earning a “very poor” grade include signing the Supreme Court amicus brief “that sought to nullify votes cast in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia,” (Boebert and Donalds were not in Congress at the time to sign to that brief.)
Also, objecting “to the certification of Electoral College votes from at least one state,” making “public statements that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election,” voting “to hold Trump accountable via impeachment or conviction,” voting “to create an independent commission to investigate the January 6th insurrection,” and voting “to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress.”
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