Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro ripped into President Joe Biden and the Democrats for cynically using the coronavirus pandemic to pass a radical $1.9 trillion bill they claim is “relief” for Americans. Shapiro argued that Biden is the “friendly face” Democrats are using to put on radical policies, while the media protect POTUS, who’s yet to hold a solo presser with the media since he took office Jan. 20.
“President Houseplant is not fully there. We all know this,” Shapiro posted Thursday via Twitter. “But Democrats desperately need him in order to put a non-threatening face on some of the most radical policy we have ever seen. So he will be shielded from media questions.”
President Houseplant is not fully there. We all know this. But Democrats desperately need him in order to put a non-threatening face on some of the most radical policy we have ever seen. So he will be shielded from media questions.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 11, 2021
Notably, data from a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday shows that 52% of Americans are concerned about Biden’s lack of access to the press, with 37% percent identifying as “very concerned”:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters say they are concerned that Biden has not held a press conference, including 37% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-four percent (24%) say they’re Not Very Concerned and 22% are Not At All Concerned.
In another tweet, the podcast host wrote, “Anybody pretending that #PresidentHouseplant is an expedient rather than an obstacle to American reopening at this point isn’t looking at either the CDC standards or the data on the pandemic trajectory. The media attempt to turn him into a wise leader is ridiculous.”
Anybody pretending that #PresidentHouseplant is an expedient rather than an obstacle to American reopening at this point isn't looking at either the CDC standards or the data on the pandemic trajectory. The media attempt to turn him into a wise leader is ridiculous.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 12, 2021
“Small gatherings by July 4? Come on. Getting us back to school faster? Most schools in non-Democrat-run-areas are open and have been for months,” Shapiro highlighted. “Vaccines being tranched out by May? We’re already on pace for it, thanks to governors.”
“The media is treating Biden as though he’s a prophet rather than a guy reading yesterday’s news – and trying to reverse some of the progress,” he added.
The media is treating Biden as though he's a prophet rather than a guy reading yesterday's news – and trying to reverse some of the progress.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 12, 2021
During his Thursday episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” the conservative thinker expanded on his criticisms.
After outlining data and quoting medical experts to underscore that we are no longer in the throes of a crisis, Shapiro zeroed in on the Democrats’ monstrous spending bill: “The Democrats have been using this virus as an excuse to pass a completely unnecessary bill — it’s completely unnecessary,” he said. “The vast majority of the funding is going to people who did not lose their jobs; the vast majority of the funding is going … to bailouts for union pension funds; it’s going to bailouts for states and localities who blew out their own budgets, who, by the way, have not lost tax revenue during this downturn because the first relief bills actually increased tax revenues in certain states.”
Shapiro also highlighted the added entitlement programs that incentivize having children out of wedlock. The Democrats, he said, will “never let go” of the pandemic.
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw (TX) similarly slammed the $1.9 trillion relief bill, tweeting, “Bribing people with their own money is dishonest and unsustainable. Democrats just passed a $1.9 trillion bribery bill and they handed our children the bill (with some inflation too.)”
Only 22% of the relief bill, about $420 billion, is set aside for direct stimulus payments to individuals, according to ABC 10 News.
As noted by The Daily Wire, $1,400 direct payments are going to some Americans, though millions have been left out: “The amount begins to phase out at $75,000 in individual income, capping at $80,000, based on individuals’ most recent tax returns.”
Related: The Ben Shapiro Show: President Houseplant’s Big Blowout Bonanza