Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Biden OMB pick Neera Tanden spread conspiracy theory about Trump’s 2016 win

Biden OMB pick Neera Tanden spread conspiracy theory about Trump’s 2016 win

Neera Tanden, President-elect Joe Biden’s new appointee as director of the Office of Management and Budget, spread baseless conspiracy theories after the 2016 election insisting that Hillary Clinton lost to President Trump because Russian hackers flipped votes.
The 50-year-old president of liberal think tank Center for American Progress and long-time Clinton loyalist served as an unpaid adviser during her 2016 White House bid and repeatedly claimed in the weeks after Trump’s victory that Clinton only lost because of Kremlin operatives.

In a series of tweets, some still online Monday, Tanden claimed the “Russians did enough damage to affect more than 70k votes in 3 states,” referring to Clinton’s losing margin in the Rust Belt states of Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

As first reported by Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald, Tanden began just days after the election baselessly suggesting that Russian hackers had switched votes from Clinton to Trump.

“Why would hackers hack in unless they could change results? What’s the point?” she speculated, suggesting this was why “Trump was as surprised as everyone else” by his win.

Her selection on Monday as Biden’s OMB chief, a hugely important role that oversees the administration’s financial management, quickly went down in flames as Republicans said there was no chance she would be confirmed by a GOP-controlled Senate.

Tanden has a history of making inflammatory comments about Republican senators, comments which she swiftly began deleting on Monday after news of her confirmation broke.

Josh Holmes, former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), speculated on Twitter that Tanden’s nomination was a “sacrifice to the confirmation gods,” while Garrett Ventry, an ex-adviser to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s GOP majority, said it would be “a funeral.”

Tanden would need 51 votes in the Senate to become chief of the OMB. Democrats control 48 seats but are hoping to pick up two more in the Georgia Senate runoff elections Jan. 5.

Regardless, Drew Brandewie , a spokesman for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), put her chances at “zero.”

“Neera Tanden, who has an endless stream of disparaging comments about the Republican Senators’ whose votes she’ll need, stands zero chance of being confirmed,” he wrote Monday.

Anticipating a fight, Democrats like Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio immediately began fortifying Tanden’s bid, calling her “smart, experienced, and qualified for the position.”

Unveiling his economic team Monday, Biden also announced Cecilia Rouse to direct the Council of Economic Advisers, which provides the president with objective economic advice.

Biden will inherit the White House amid an unprecedented economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but in a March interview with Vox, Rouse, a former member of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, claimed the US didn’t need any financial stimulus.

“Right now, we don’t need stimulus. We need the opposite of stimulus,” Rouse claimed. “We want the economy to stop, in many ways. Right now, we need liquidity. We need people to be able to pay bills.”

Gridlocked for months, Congress has yet to vote on extending small-business Paycheck Protection Program loans or the $600-per-week federal boost to unemployment insurance with millions of Americans out of work.

On Sunday, the former veep also named his all-female communications shop, which will be led by Kate Bedingfield, who was his campaign communications director.

Anti-Trump activist Karine Jean-Pierre, formerly Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ chief of staff, will serve as a principal deputy press secretary to Biden.

Jean-Pierre, a former MSNBC contributor, also has a history of peddling conspiracy theories, claiming in a March interview on the liberal network that the president claimed the coronavirus was “a hoax.”

In October 2017, Jean-Pierre also claimed that Trump was “essentially defecating on women” by allegedly signing unspecified executive orders to take away their rights, and in January 2019 insisted that the president’s criticism of the intelligence community felt like “authoritarianism.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
0:00
0:00
Open
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
0:00
0:00
Close
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Hungary Ranked Among the World’s Safest Travel Destinations for 2025
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Man Convicted of Fraud After Booking Over 120 Free Flights Posing as Flight Attendant
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Beata Thunberg Rebrands as Beata Ernman Amidst Sister's Activism Controversy
Hungarian Parliament Approves Citizenship Suspension Law
Prime Minister Orbán Criticizes EU's Ukraine Accession Plans
Hungarian Delicacies Introduced to Japanese Market
Hungary's Industrial Output Rises Amid Battery Sector Slump
President Sulyok Celebrates 15 Years of Hungarian Unity Efforts
Hungary's Szeleczki Shines at World Judo Championships
Visegrád Construction Trends Diverge as Hungary Lags
Hungary Hosts National Quantum Technology Workshop
Hungarian Animation Featured at Annecy Festival
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
UK and EU Reach New Economic Agreement
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
×