Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is caught between a rock and a hard place on the debt ceiling.
On the one hand, he could easily make a deal with President Joe Biden and the Senate to raise the debt ceiling and then begin negotiations on the budget. Doing so would require that McCarthy bring together moderate Republicans and Democrats. Doing that would anger the far-right, and members of the far-right Freedom Caucus could motion to vacate McCarthy from the speaker’s chair.
It means McCarthy has to please the far right. At issue is that the far-right is seeking to eliminate the bipartisan transportation bill, any COVID-19 funds sent to small businesses or individuals, cutting food stamps, veterans benefits, and a slew of other things. The fact that Democrats are even dealing on it at all is being attacked by progressives. It’s compared to a hostage crisis, where the GOP wants a list of demands, or they shoot.
According to Democratic strategist Chai Komanduri, the ex-president behaves like a “Bon villain.”
The theory from former President Donald Trump is that, if Republicans don’t get every demand, they should simply “shoot the hostage,” or the economy, in this case. Trump, who is running for president, knows that if the economy is bad, Americans will be less likely to reelect Biden. If that means making the economy bad, Trump appears willing to do it.
“He’s the hand behind the curtain, and Kevin McCarthy is one of his goons,” explained Komanduri. “He’s basically hired to do Trump’s bidding. And the reason is Donald Trump has that Republican congress in his pocket. Over 50 members of that caucus have already endorsed Donald Trump, and that’s very early in the cycle. That’s with Ron DeSantis (R-FL) still out there raising money but talking about a presidential campaign, polling, et cetera. So many members are in the Trump camp. And Kevin McCarthy knows this, and he knows he has to please that constituency in his caucus first and foremost.”
Destroying the Biden presidency is critical to Trump’s success.
“For Trump, the math is very simple. He must break the Biden brand,” said Komanduri. “Joe Biden won in 2020 because he was the Ted Lasso candidate. He was the guy who talked about the soul of America who could bring people together, was bipartisan, and he has, by and large, succeeded in that. Trump in 2024 knows he must break that. He must create chaos. He must say, Biden creates as much chaos as me. Might as well vote for me. I got jokes. That is basically what Donald Trump wants to do in this campaign, and this debt ceiling or debt default, manufactured crisis, is really just a campaign event that’s been staged by his campaign.”
See the full conversation below or at the following link here.
