A State Department briefing got heated Monday when a reporter argued that President Joe Biden’s administration was taking credit for the accomplishments of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price laid out that 18 mostly-Western companies have agreed to scale back work on the Nordstream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany, an effort the U.S. has long opposed. He framed the companies’ decision as demonstrating that “the legislative goals and our actions are having a good effect.” A reporter from the Associated Press then interjected. (RELTED: ‘Either Not Telling The Truth Or Mentally Gone’: Trump Rips Biden Over Vaccine Claim)
“You guys have only been in office for a month, right? Are you telling me that in the last four weeks these 18 companies all of the sudden decided to say, ‘Oh my God! We better not doing anything with Nord Stream 2,'” The reporter, Matt Lee said. “You guys are taking credit for stuff the previous administration did. Yes or no?”
Price appeared to try to laugh off Lee’s question, leading the reporter to keep pressing him.
Price and Lee repeatedly spoke over one another, with Price arguing that he is “a spokesman for the State Department.” He ultimately conceded that the employees who secured the agreements with the companies were the same one month ago as they were three months ago.
The pull-out of companies from the Nord Stream 2 project came after the U.S. threatened sanctions against several European companies on January 12, eight days before Biden was inaugurated. The U.S. also registered its opposition to the pipeline long before, with Trump repeatedly bringing up the issue in his visits to Europe.
The future of the pipeline is now unclear with the withdrawal of the companies contracted to construct it.