Newly elected GOP congressman Andy Ogles said that President Joe Biden shouldn’t have been surprised to receive jeers when he “levied false accusations” about Republicans during his Tuesday night State of the Union address.
“I think him standing in the dais and lying to the American people is inappropriate,” Ogles told The Spectator.
“If you’re going to have the audacity to do that, don’t be surprised that you get pushback from those who are being levied with accusations. So I would say what was inappropriate is his tone.”
Biden claimed during his State of the Union address that some Republicans wanted to sunset Social Security and Medicare every five years.
“That means if Congress doesn’t vote to keep them, those programs will go away,” Biden said. “Other Republicans say if we don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, they’ll let America default on its debt for the first time in our history.”
His remarks were met with loud disapproval from the Republican side of the House Chamber, including several members who accused him of lying. Media reports following the State of the Union address referred to the GOP caucus as “animated,” “rowdy,” “unruly” and lacking decorum.
Ogles dismissed the characterization, asserting that the GOP’s response was completely appropriate given Biden’s claims.
“He levied false accusations trying to scare seniors,” Ogles said. “And look, we are going to take care of our seniors. We’re not going to get rid of Medicare and Social Security and anyone who says that is not being truthful. And so I was offended by it. I was disappointed in it.”
Ogles, who served with the anti-human trafficking nonprofit Abolition International, also spoke about Biden’s complicity in the current border crisis.
“Every town in America is a border town because of a porous border. Just two weeks ago, we arrested someone from Iran on our southern border. Sixty percent of women and children that try to cross are sexually assaulted at our southern border. So for him to stand in that room and say that he has a solution for the southern border is laughable and offensive,” Ogles explained. “He could have closed it with a stroke of a pen. Period.”
