President Joe Biden on Friday mocked conservative Republicans who previously slammed his infrastructure program as “socialist” and voted against it — but who have since asked his administration for grants from it.
“I didn’t know there were that many socialist Republicans,” Biden deadpanned during a speech at a Volvo automobile plant in Hagerstown, Maryland.
The president, citing a CNN report from this week, noted how Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were among numerous Republicans who had lambasted the program in public but then requested cash to fund projects in their states.
“Folks, look, you can’t make this stuff up. You’ve got to say, and I’ve got to say, I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus,” Biden cracked.
He then warned, “If Republicans take control of the Congress, these historic victories we just won for the American people are going to be taken away” — a reference to the passage of both his infrastructure law last year and the Inflation Reduction Act in August.
Republicans have previously attempted to take credit for other funding they’d voted against, such as Biden’s COVID-19 relief legislation. The president has in the past mocked such heel turns, saying those lawmakers have “no shame.”
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