Utah’s national representatives released scathing reviews of President Joe Biden’s performance in office following his address to the nation.
Biden gave a national speech Wednesday evening about his first 100 days in office and his goals for the rest of his term.
Sen. Mike Lee made it clear that he isn’t happy with Biden’s decisions thus far in a video of himself that he posted on his Twitter after Biden’s speech.
“It’s been a telling 100 days, and a telling evening, though not perhaps in exactly in the way President Biden has presented them to Utahns and to all Americans,” he said. “While Biden campaigned as a centrist and something of a moderate, he’s governed as anything but that.”
Of concern to Lee are Biden’s actions on climate change and immigration.
Lee complained that Biden has halted new oil and gas leases on public land which Lee called a “crippling blow” to Utahns who need the leases for their livelihoods. Lee is also upset Biden canceled the Keystone pipeline and rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. He accused the president of creating “huge surges” of immigrants at the border by allowing immigrants to come to the United States, rather than forcing them to stay in Mexico, while their asylum cases are heard.
Sen. Mitt Romney said in a YouTube video that Biden has been “spending like crazy.”
“You know what’s hard to do?” he asked. “It’s hard to live within your budget and do good things within your budget. What’s easy is just to spend money like there’s no tomorrow. And unfortunately, the president has lots of things he’d like to do, but he’s spending like crazy.”
Romney said Biden won’t unify American if he is only appealing to the liberal wing of his party.
Rep. Burgess Owens said on Twitter that the speech included Biden’s “spin” on his first 100 days. Owens said Biden didn’t talk about his “job-killing” executive orders or the “largest tax increase in a generation.”
Biden has not proposed taxing people who earn less than $400,000.
Rep. Blake Moore struck a more friendly tone in his statement, which he began by saying he is grateful for Biden’s service to the nation. But Moore agreed with the other Utah representatives that Biden has been too partisan.
“Since my first day in office, I have looked forward to working with the Biden Administration and finding common ground on issues that both sides of the aisle prioritize, including immigration, infrastructure and economic recovery. I sent President Biden a letter expressing my desire to put productivity over partisanship to deliver results for Utahns and Americans at large,” said Moore. “But unfortunately President Biden has not exemplified the values or principles on which he ran.”
He said Biden has pushed left-wing policies with executive orders and said his corporate and federal tax hikes will stunt economic growth.
Rep. Chris Stewart said in a statement that Biden has offered bipartisanship “in name only.” Like Romney, he complained that the president wants to spend too much money.
“He campaigned as a moderate candidate and continues to champion the unification of America,” said Stewart. “Unfortunately, despite the president’s soothing tones of a return to normal, his legislative actions have been the most partisan I’ve seen during my time in Congress.”
Gov. Spencer Cox also said he isn’t happy with the president’s proposed spending.
“Spending $2.3 trillion for infrastructure on top of the $1.9 trillion spent on the American Rescue Plan is an enormous amount of money for a country that’s already got $28 trillion in national debt,” Cox said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune. “It’s unfortunate that neither party has much credibility on federal spending right now.”
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