CNBC host Rick Santelli blasted President Joe Biden’s claims that he has slashed the deficit more than any other president in a scathing rant on Tuesday.
Santelli was discussing the impending debate over the debt ceiling and government spending when the host asked how President Biden gets away with saying he has slashed the deficit “more than any other president in history.”
“Because under his term, it’s gone up more than any other amount in history! So any cut would qualify you know, we’re sending very mixed messages to all the young people in the world that probably don’t understand exactly what’s being handed off to them,” Santelli ranted.
“Whether it’s this administration or any administration, they’re not being honest about the debt we’re carrying and the Fed, our central bank, is certainly out to lunch when it comes to underscoring how debt kills growth and they can’t even weigh in on it,” the CNBC host added.
“They kept interest rates so low for so long, and yet they can’t be more honest about how this explosion in debt is going to be a killer of growth for all generations to follow.”
WATCH:
"How [does] the President get away with saying that he's cutting the deficit more than any other president in history? Well maybe because, under his term, it's gone up more than any other amount in history so any cut would qualify…" – CNBC's Rick Santelli pic.twitter.com/pCD2ogTHaa
— The Market Institute (@MarketInstitute) May 9, 2023
“Let me remind you again: I reduced the federal deficit,” Biden said in a speech last year. “All the talk about the deficit from my Republican friends, I love it. I’ve reduced it $350 billion in my first year in office. And we’re on track to reduce it, by the end of September, by another 1 trillion, 500 billion dollars – the largest drop ever.”
The president is scheduled to meet with Congressional leaders at the Oval Office on Tuesday to discuss the debt ceiling and the possibility of default. Republicans have signaled that they would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts, while President Biden and Democrat Congressional leaders want to raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached.