Monday on FNC’s “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham criticized Republican efforts on so-called bipartisan infrastructure legislation.
Ingraham told Cassidy that Republicans who participated “got played.”
Partial transcript as follows:
INGRAHAM: And the White House is, as I said, quite giddy about this. Reuters describes this as a glide path to the $3.5 trillion tonight and their write up of this, senator. So your response?
CASSIDY: So a couple things. It is the person in my state stuck in traffic, who’s fearful of their home flooding, who wants to have a better job that actually would like to make more money, but doesn’t make a lot of money now, who really likes this bill. I talked to Fox News watchers, they love this bill.
Now, is there somebody who’s wealthy, but actually for the wealthy, this means less. They have chauffeurs, they have private jets, they can fly here and there if it floods. It’s the people who live in their own home who are at risk of flooding, who like this. So now as we are going to $3.5 trillion – as we are going to $3.5 trillion, Pelosi wants to link the two. She doesn’t think she has the votes for that $3.5 trillion.
INGRAHAM: Senator, are you on this show tonight saying that Nancy Pelosi hasn’t gained out her votes? You actually think that the–
CASSIDY: She just failed to pass the renewal of the eviction to apartments. Believe me. She doesn’t think she has to invest in the $3.5 trillion. She’s hoping to fold these together so she can get it passed.
INGRAHAM: Well, so–
CASSIDY: And by the way, Mike Lee is helping. Republicans who are trying to send this bill are trying to help Nancy Pelosi. Can you believe that?
INGRAHAM: So, sir, the tax increase that the bipartisan infrastructure bill makes possible, the $3.5 trillion behemoth that you will not support, correct?
CASSIDY: So I reject your characterization. This bill makes that $3.5 trillion less likely to pass and the squad knows it. Bernie knows it. They’re the ones who are objecting to this bill, because they think it’s less likely that they pass their $3.5 trillion behemoth.
INGRAHAM: Why did you and McConnell and company not ask or say, look, we’re happy to talk roads and bridges. Let’s have that completely separate, because Biden did guarantee that, right? So why not do what Pelosi did, and say, show us your hand first, let’s see the full text of your reconciliation bill, everything that’s in a climate change, amnesty, tax increases, all the nightmares that we already delineated tonight. Let them show their hand, but it got flipped, didn’t it? You guys got played on this. You had to vote first or agree first. They still haven’t shown the text of their legislation, have they, sir?
CASSIDY: The ironic thing is you are agreeing with the squad and Bernie. It’s amazing. You’re agreeing with Pelosi. We think this makes that behemoth less likely to pass. And somehow you are trying – if I may leave, if I may, we make that bill less likely to pass. But if we sync this bill, and you marry them together, it’s more likely to pass. That’s just what simple logic tells you. So I’m not quite following–
INGRAHAM: So you don’t follow the Wall Street Journal National Review, yours truly, any number of people online who have been writing about economics, exceed more for like 35 years?
CASSIDY: –separating them two makes it harder to pass the $3.5 trillion, they know Democratic politics. They know Democratic politics.
INGRAHAM: You made it easy for them. Make them show their text first. You realize that America’s going to be changed forever?
CASSIDY: Hey, hey, Nancy, will you tell us everything that you have? Hey, Nancy, will you tell us everything? That’s not going to happen, Laura.
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