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Senior Senate Republican wants to make Joe Biden a ‘half-term president’

John Barrasso echoes Mitch McConnell who said in 2010 the GOP’s top priority was to make Barack Obama a “one-term president”

Justin Vallejo
New York
Wednesday 16 June 2021 20:21 BST
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Senior Senate Republican vows Joe Biden will be 'one half-term-president'

The third-ranking Republican in the Senate vowed to make Joe Biden a "one-half-term president" in the 2022 midterm elections.

Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso, of Wyoming, said the White House was being run by Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, and taking back control of both the Senate and House would end Mr Biden’s presidency.

"I’m looking forward to a very successful 2022. Mitch McConnell’s come under a lot of criticism for saying, at one point, he wanted to make sure that Barack Obama was a one-term president," Mr Barrasso said.

"I want to make Joe Biden a one-half-term president. And I want to do that by making sure they no longer have House, Senate, White House."

Mr Barrasso made the comments to the Republican think tank, the Ripon Society, last week but the video was posted online on Tuesday.

His comments echoed 2010 remarks by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who said the GOP’s top priority was to make Mr Obama a "one-term president".

Mr McConnell make the statement just ahead of the midterm election in Mr Obama’s first term, adding that the goal was to put someone in the White House who would not veto the GOP’s legislative agenda.

While he failed to prevent a second term, Republicans reclaimed control of the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014 for the last two years of Mr Obama’s presidency.

Mr Barasso also claimed a Democrat senator told him Bernie Sanders expected to lose the House and Senate in 2022 and now was their "only chance" to achieve its agenda on spending and taxes.

"Joe Biden will never veto a bill. He will go down in history as a president who has never vetoed a bill, because he will sign whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi put on his desk. period. He’s not going to get anything he doesn’t agree to sign," Mr Barrasso said.

"He’s just along for the ride right now. And they’re running the show and their party is being driven further and further to the left. When you have a party that is proposing to defund the police and have less security in our country, that’s a story that writes itself."

White House spokesman Andrew Bates ignored Mr Barasso’s comments in a statement to Politico, saying that Mr Biden looked forward to continuing working for the American people.

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