House Republicans who demanded massive spending cuts as part of the proposed debt ceiling increase are merely "politically posturing," according to former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who said the whole debacle was completely avoidable.
Steele, who last month warned that the party he led over a decade ago doesn't currently have a direction or a message for voters, appeared on MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle late Thursday night. The host asked Steele if there was some disappointment among Democrats that Biden's student debt relief was taken off the table as part of the negotiations.
"The courts had been making it difficult for him. And there is no real clear path for its survival long term at this point," Steele said. "So, the president made a sacrifice here, as he had to, in order to get this done."
Steele also noted that the "fact of the matter is that this was highly avoidable," pointing to past circumstances where Republicans easily passed debt ceiling hikes.
"It was really avoidable, because all of the sanctimony from Republicans about the concern for the debt and the deficit was not there the three times that they raised it when Trump was president," Steele said. "In fact, the Democrats are like, we get the importance of not bankrupting the country, and we will give you a clean debt bill, which they did, three times: 17, 18, and 19."
Steele added that the "political posturing here is a little bit underwhelming for me."
Steele further called for the elimination of the entire debt ceiling debate.
"Eliminate this farce, this debt circus that we go through every 18 or so months. Just stop it. We are the only developed country outside of Denmark that does this stupid," he said, adding that Denmark "set the level so high they will never reach it."
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Dunce' Marjorie Taylor Greene roasted for Jan. 6 plan that could be great for Democrats
"So, the reality of it is, this is all political posturing," he said. "What all of us watching this program know -- and we need serious players in the Senate, in the House, to deal with the physical health of this country if we think we are going to grow an economy for the generation that his graduating this week, next week and weeks ahead."
Watch below or at the following link:
