Senator Sinema Snaps Back At Question During CNN Interview: ‘I’m Not Going To Do That With You’
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) refused to answer certain questions during a CNN interview on Thursday, at one point flat-out telling the reporter she would not negotiate in public and that included with that reporter.
One interesting tidbit that came from a CNN report recapping the interview was that before the interview, Sinema’s cellphone rang and “her ringtone is the refrain from a song in the musical ‘Hamilton’ that includes the lyrics ‘you don’t have the votes.’”
When asked if she was ready for President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, Sinema, responded, “I’m always prepared to vote and to vote for what’s right for the interests of Arizona.”
“I personally believe that the best way to create legislation is to be thoughtful and careful so that we’re crafting legislation that truly represents the interests that we want to achieve and that creates a benefit and helps people all across Arizona and the country.” she continued. “So, that’s what I’m working on right now.”
The CNN reporter asked Sinema what changes she would like to make to the version of the bill that the House of Representatives just passed, to which Sinema responded, “Well, folks know I don’t negotiate in the press. I’m not going to do that with you.”
“I won’t support any legislation that increases burdens on Arizonan or American businesses and decreases our ability to compete either domestically or globally,” Sinema later added. “I want to be sure that if we are crafting legislation, we’re doing it in a lean and efficient way that’s fiscally responsible and doesn’t impact things like inflation or make our businesses less competitive.”
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You have met directly with the president perhaps more than any other senator in the Democratic Party, maybe aside from Joe Manchin. What lessons have you learned? What kind of negotiator is the president? And is it hard for you to tell the president, “No, I can’t do that”?
SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-AZ): President Biden served in the Senate for a long time so he knows how negotiations work. And he also during this process called me repeatedly and asked me to continue working with Senator Rob Portman and others in the G10 to find this bipartisan agreement and showed a real commitment to wanting this bipartisan achievement, which we’ve — which we’ve accomplished.
And I think the big challenge in front of us is for us to all work together in an accountable and transparent way to actually implement this law.
FOX: Schumer has said he wants to vote on Build Back Better, that broader social safety net bill, before Christmas break. Are you prepared to vote yes when that comes to the floor?
SINEMA: Well, I don’t set the schedule for the Senate floor and I’m always prepared to vote and to vote for what’s right for the interests of Arizona.
I personally believe that the best way to create legislation is to be thoughtful and careful so that we’re crafting legislation that truly represents the interests that we want to achieve and that creates a benefit and helps people all across Arizona and the country. So, that’s what I’m working on right now.
FOX: It doesn’t sound like you are quite a yes yet on the version that just passed the House of Representatives. What changes do you want to make?
SINEMA: Well, folks know I don’t negotiate in the press. I’m not going to do that with you.
FOX: I know one of the things that you made clear very early in the negotiation with the president and your majority leader was that you were not going to support raising the corporate tax rate up a single point.
Did you feel like at any point they weren’t taking your comments seriously given the fact that they were promising for a long time that this was going to be part of the bill? SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-AZ): You know, I don’t really spend much time
thinking about what other people are saying publicly. What I really want to focus on is how to get to a solution and solve a problem that matters to every day folks in Arizona. And people back home in Arizona know that I am committed to ensuring that any legislation we pass retains America’s competitiveness.
So I won’t support any legislation that increases burdens on Arizonan or American businesses and decreases our ability to compete either domestically or globally.
So, I want to be sure that if we are crafting legislation, we’re doing it in a lean and efficient way that’s fiscally responsible and doesn’t impact things like inflation or make our businesses less competitive.
FOX: So you’ve been criticized from progressives who say you’re standing in the way of what we’ve been campaigning on for years, whether that’s repealing the 2017 tax cuts, whether that is changing voting rights laws. What do you say to
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