Biden openly mocks Republicans 'bragging' about the COVID-19 relief funds they voted against

When the American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Joe Biden, it received no support whatsoever from the GOP. No Republicans voted for it in either the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives. And when Biden was speaking in Cleveland this week, he pointed out that some of the House Republicans who voted against the Rescue Plan now want to take credit for it.

During his speech, Biden said, "Even my Republican friends in Congress, not a single one of them voted for the Rescue Plan. I'm not going to embarrass any one of them, but I have here a list of how, back in their districts, they're bragging about the Rescue Plan.... I mean, some people have no shame. But I'm happy. I'm happy they know that it's benefited their constituents. That's OK with me. But if you're going to try to take credit for what you've done, don't get in the way of what we still need to do."

Journalist Steve Benen, on MSNBC's website, notes that in Cleveland, Biden held up a "list of GOP officials boasting about relief funds they opposed" — although he didn't mention any of them by name during his speech. But Benen reports that according to NBC News, "It had 13 names on it that were visible, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), and Rep. Greg Pence (R-Ind.), brother of former Vice President Mike Pence."

Benen also points out that although those Republicans on the list are hypocrites, the fact that they want undeserved credit for the American Rescue Plan shows that it is a success story.

"For Biden and his party," Benen writes, "the value is not just in exposing Republican hypocrisy, and taking jabs at those who 'voted no and took the dough,' but also, in reminding the public that the Democratic plan has been so effective that GOP opponents are pretending they supported it."