According to the White House, America has instructed lawmakers in DC to cooperate across party lines and “continue to build upon the President’s economic agenda.”
On Tuesday, journalists questioned Karine Jean-Pierre, the spokesperson for the White House, on the ongoing speakership battle and the Republican Party’s failure to coalesce around Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
“Real quick, back to McCarthy. I’m just wondering if you know that the President had made this argument on the campaign trail last year regarding how, you know, essentially, a vote for House Republicans would mean ceding control to, in his words, MAGA extremists. When pressed about whether McCarthy would make it harder to close agreements,” the reporter pressed, “Do you feel that this is an illustration of it in any way?”
The American people “said very clearly and loudly they wanted us all to unite and work toward that common ground — right? — whether it is to work on the economy, continue to improve on the President’s economic strategy, if it is our national security, if it’s protecting women’s — women’s healthcare,” Jean-Pierre said after noting that Republicans did not observe a “red wave” as anticipated.
She bragged about President Biden’s alleged triumph in the midterm elections, saying, “All of those things is what we heard from the American people — all preserving our democracy.”
She continued, “And it happened, and it happened due to this President’s leadership, because of his messaging, as a result of we led with — right? — due to each of the policies that I’ve just mentioned, including the bipartisan… infrastructure legislation — correct? — along with the American Rescue Plan, which was the very first piece of legislation that this President signed to get our economy back onto its feet.” She concluded, “The American public has chosen to give us a charge to work together.”
Jean-Pierre further declined to comment on the speakership race, claiming that the White House is merely allowing the process to “play out.”
She remarked at the time, “I do not want to kind of go into any hypotheticals until we see what happens today.”