President Joe Biden rolled on a bicycle while the press shouted at him about the credit rating downgrade in Rehobath Beach Wednesday.
Fitch Ratings, one of the world’s largest credit agencies, downgraded the U.S. Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating from “AAA” to “AA+,”citing “expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years.” It predicted the federal government’s deficit to GDP to rise in 2023 to 6.3%,up from 3.7% in 2022, indicating weaker federal revenue, a higher interest burden and new spending.
A press pool gathered and questioned Biden about the matter during his bike ride at 10:35 a.m., according to a White House Press Pool email from NYT White House correspondent Katie Rogers.
“Mr. President, are you concerned about the downgrade?” one female reporter shouted.
“What’d you think of the Fitch downgrade, Mr. President?” Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason asked.
“Indictments?” Associated Press White House correspondent Will Weissert asked, referring to former President Donald Trump’s third indictment issued Tuesday.
The president did not answer and continued on his bike ride. He is currently taking a ten-day vacation in his home state of Delaware after 48 full or partial days at his private residence in 2023 thus far. He frequently leaves the White House on Fridays and spends the weekend in his private home. (RELATED: Biden Takes Bike Ride At The Beach As War Rages In Ukraine)
He has yet to make a public statement about the credit downgrade. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying the Fitch Ratings report “defies reality.”
“We strongly disagree with this decision,” Jean-Pierre said. “The ratings model used by Fitch declined under President Trump and then improved under President Biden, and it defies reality to downgrade the United States at a moment when President Biden has delivered the strongest recovery of any major economy in the world.”
“And it’s clear that extremism by Republican officials—from cheerleading default, to undermining governance and democracy, to seeking to extend deficit-busting tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations—is a continued threat to our economy,” she added.