KJP repeatedly dodged Biden’s comment new deal with McCarthy, Chaos Ensues; Matt Gaetz

Joe Biden said over the weekend that Democrats had reached a new deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Ukraine aid – a major omission from a funding bill that managed to avert a government shutdown. “We just made one about Ukraine. So, we’ll find out,” Biden said when a reporter asked whether he would trust McCarthy when the “next deal comes around.”

The remark left open the prospect Biden had secured some new agreement from McCarthy to take up new funding for Ukraine, despite opposition from some conservative Republicans. The comments prompted Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz – a Florida Republican who is promising to take action this week to try to oust McCarthy from his speakership post – to call on McCarthy to share more about “his secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine. I’ll be listening.”

On 10/2/2023, Pressed on what specific assurances Biden had secured on Ukraine aid from McCarthy, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly dodged. “There’s obviously bipartisan support to continue the funding to Ukraine,” she said when asked whether Biden was referring to any specific agreement from McCarthy to take up new Ukraine funding. “I’m not going to go beyond what the president said,” she said.

Asked whether the White House had engaged in any backchannel negotiations with the speaker on Ukraine, she declined to detail any one-on-one conversations Biden has held on Ukraine. “I just don’t have anything to confirm,” she said, without ruling it out.

Jean-Pierre Won’t Answer Why Biden Said He Made “Deal” With Congress Over Ukraine “If He Didn’t”

Source

Chaos Ensues As Jean-Pierre Declines To Say Biden Was Telling Truth On Ukraine “Deal” With Congress

Karine Jean-Pierre Says Biden Has No Plans To Speak With Speaker McCarthy On Budget Discussions

KJP repeatedly dodged Biden’s comment new deal with McCarthy, Chaos Ensues; Matt Gaetz

Transcript Highlights

Transcribed from the video audio:

• I’m just trying to understand what the president meant when he said he just made a deal
• What I’m saying to you is that we have seen bipartisan support
• It’s possible the president made a deal that you don’t know about
• I’m just saying that I’m not going to go beyond what the president said
• I’m not going to go beyond what the president said
• So you won’t say that what he said was true
• I’m not going to go beyond what the president said
• You’re declining to say that what he said was true
• When I asked the president about the prospect of future deals with Speaker McCarthy, he said we just made one about Ukraine
• It sounds like you’re saying they didn’t just make one about Ukraine