A reporter for a right wing outlet pushed GOP talking points Thursday when he asked if President Joe Biden sees himself as a “benevolent dictator” for signing a number of executive orders and actions. There;’s no question that President Biden has signed a significant number of executive orders in his eight days as president, but the vast majority, if not almost all, are simply reversing the damaging orders Trump had signed over a four-year period.
Saying President Biden has signed 26 executive orders, a reporter for the Washington Examiner went back in time to pull an out-of-context quote from then-candidate Joe Biden, saying there are some things that cannot be achieved via executive actions, “unless you’re a dictator.”
In October candidate Biden, talking about raising taxes on the wealthy at an ABC town hall, said: “I have this strange notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my Democratic friends even occasionally say, ‘Well, if you can’t get the votes by executive order, you’re going to do something.’ Things you can’t do by executive order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus.”
Republicans are now insisting that Biden signing executive orders – again, almost all of which merely reverse the damaging executive orders Trump implemented – makes him a “dictator.”
Far right wing Trumpist Charlie Kirk, for example, flat out lied on Tuesday, claiming: “Joe Biden admits he is governing like a ‘dictator.'”
CNN fact checker Daniel Dale agrees the right is making false arguments:
Here’s that Washington Examiner reporter: