- Biden is set to give a speech highlighting Sen. Scott's agenda, which would hike taxes on poor Americans.
- In response, Scott declared that Biden is "incoherent, incapacitated and confused" and should resign.
- Scott's controversial agenda has been panned even by top Republicans in the Senate.
In an extraordinary escalation of rhetoric, Republican Sen. Rick of Florida called on Tuesday for President Joe Biden to resign over his handling of inflation, arguing that the president is "unwell" and that it would be the "most effective" way to handle the crisis.
"Let's be honest here. Joe Biden is unwell. He's unfit for office. He's incoherent, incapacitated and confused," said Scott in a blistering statement on Tuesday. "He doesn't know where he is half the time. He's incapable of leading and he's incapable of carrying out his duties. Period."
"Everyone knows it. No one is willing to say it," he added. "But we have to, for the sake of the country. Joe Biden can't do the job."
The heated rhetoric, common among House Republicans but unusual for a US senator, came ahead of a speech in which Biden plans to address inflation while slamming Scott's proposal, seeking to tie it to the rest of the Republican Party. The president is expected to make a fresh pitch for provisions of his stalled economic agenda, like measures to establish affordable childcare and cut the cost of prescription drugs.
Biden has lambasted the Scott tax proposal as he tries to differentiate Republicans and Democrats on their economic plans ahead of the midterms. The president is stepping up his attacks, declaring last week that Scott's "ultra-MAGA agenda" is "extreme, as most MAGA things are."
The Florida Republican's "11-Point Plan to Rescue America" includes a provision that would require all Americans to pay some income tax so they "have skin in the game."
The Tax Policy Center found that the plan would raise taxes on mostly lower-income households; those that make below $54,000 would pay for over 80% of such a tax increase. Under a hypothetical plan with a minimum tax of $100, the lowest-earning Americans would have paid nearly $1,000 more in taxes in 2022, according to their analysis.
Scott, who chairs Senate Republicans' campaign arm and is a member of party leadership, has stressed that the plan is his alone, and independent fact checkers have pointed out that the plan isn't official GOP policy.
But that hasn't stopped Democrats from seeking to tie the rest of the party to the agenda's controversial tax provisions anyway, prompting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to publicly rebuke Scott in March.
"Let me tell you what would not be part of our agenda," said McConnell at the time. "We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, and sunsets social security and Medicare within five years."
—CSPAN (@cspan) March 1, 2022
According to the White House, Biden's speech will "contrast his approach with Congressional Republicans' ultra-MAGA plan to raise taxes on 75 million American families and threaten to sunset programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."