On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) stated that there’s strong distrust between Democrats and Republicans due to January 6.
Balint said [relevant remarks begin around 33:55] that “it’s going to be very difficult for us to navigate” one giant reconciliation bill “because you have a party now that is so beholden to President Trump’s desires, wishes, whims, that, when you’re going to deliver a massive tax cut for billionaires and the wealthiest among us, how are you going to have anything left over to build housing, to shore up Social Security, to shore up Medicare? These are real concerns. So, of course, as our Leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), always says, we will partner wherever, whenever we can, but we cannot give up on our values and also what the American people are needing from us.”
She added that there are chances for bipartisanship on some tax provisions and the debt ceiling.
Later, host Ali Vitali stated, “I always think about the 6th as such an important way to think about how Congress works together, because there is such a deep mistrust, I think, between Republican and Democratic members because of the election denialism and because of the way people reacted that day.”
Balint responded, “Absolutely. And so, I don’t want this to get lost that we are going to have a peaceful transfer of power this time around. And we’re going to do that because Democrats believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, and you had a moment after the January 6 insurrection in which you had some Republicans finding some backbone, finding some courage to say, no, this is not who we are as Americans, and then a very quick backtrack. And what they’ve done should terrify all of us. In a very short amount of time, they have created an entirely new narrative about what happened, and this is a slap in the face to every single law enforcement officer who was there that day protecting the Capitol. This is a democracy. We don’t just certify election[s] when our guy wins.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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