House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday randomly mocked President Joe Biden for being old as he asked to meet with him to discuss raising the debt ceiling.
“I’ll bring lunch to the White House. I’ll make a nice meal, if that’s what you want,” McCarthy, 58, said during a GOP press conference, as Republicans standing next to him laughed at the gratuitous jab. “No problem. Whatever it takes to meet.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), 57, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), 62, were among those who laughed along with McCarthy.
When HuffPost asked Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who was among those who spoke at the press conference, what kind of delicacy McCarthy could bring to Biden, she laughed uncomfortably. “Oh, you should ask Kevin about that,” she said.
A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Kent Nishimura via Getty Images
McCarthy took a shot at Biden, who is 80, as he said Republicans had been trying to meet with him for months to negotiate the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department will implement emergency measures to prevent debt defaults between July and September unless Congress chooses to raise the ceiling. The House GOP vowed not to raise it without concessions.
“We’ve had enough, we’re responsible,” McCarthy said of Republicans who have threatened not to raise the debt limit — and potentially crash the economy — without Biden agreeing to his demands for trillions in spending cuts.
The president has said that happy to host McCarthy to talk about the debt ceiling as soon as McCarthy published the GOP’s budget. California Republicans have not done this.
At new interview on the conservative podcast “Ruthless,” McCarthy mocked Biden for giving him cookies during a private meeting earlier this year.
“Then he asked me if I wanted a cookie. Oh no, he was really excited. ‘I’m fixing the border,’ and then at the end, ‘Do you want a cookie? I want you a cookie,'” she said.
“He was very proud of the cookies,” McCarthy added.
He seemed to take a different tone when the camera was off, though.
“Privately, Mr. McCarthy has told allies that he finds Mr. Biden mentally sharp in meetings,” The New York Times reported last week.
Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.