Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss said she did not have time to listen to President Biden’s comments about her budget being a “mistake” in October because she was too busy dealing with issues of energy and security, according to reports.
Biden said on Oct. 15, 2022, that Truss’ push to cut taxes for her country’s highest earners was a “mistake.”
Truss was forced to scrap substantial portions of her tax plan that week amid market turmoil and diminishing confidence from the public.
Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss addresses the media in Downing Street in London, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
While eating ice cream with reporters in Oregon, Biden broke his silence.
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“I was not the only one that thought it was a mistake,” he said. “I think the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when – anyway, I disagreed with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me.”
The Daily Express in the U.K. reported that Truss took part in her first TV interview with Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson of Spectator TV since stepping down as Prime Minister, and she was asked where she was when she heard about Biden’s criticism.
President Biden speaks at the White House. (Fox News)
“It was quite a busy time Katy, so I can’t remember exactly what I was doing,” Truss reportedly said. “But we’d been through the very difficult death of Her Majesty the Queen and the funeral
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“I’d actually been over and met President Biden at the UN,” she added. “We were then dealing with the issues of energy but also dealing with very serious security issues – Russian sabre-rattling – so I didn’t really have time to call President Biden or get concerned about his comments because we needed to deliver on what was a very difficult situation.”
Truss also reportedly told the TV show hosts that the U.K. must do things differently to correct its low economic growth over the past 10 years. She also warned that the U.K. was falling behind other countries, adding, “There’s no doubt there’s a problem.”
Truss initially pushed to eliminate the U.K.’s top tax bracket, effectively cutting taxes for citizens making more than $168,000 per year. While she scrapped that plan in early October, it did little to stabilize the markets.
She ultimately fired her Treasury chief and longtime friend, Kwasi Kwarteng, while also walking back on a promise to cancel an increase in taxes on corporations.
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The British’ pound’s value plummeted to near parity with the U.S. dollar when Kwarteng first announced Truss’s tax cut plan in late September. Truss’ walk-backs have succeeded in increasing the pound’s value from $1.03 to $1.12.
Anders Hagstrom contributed to the reporting of this story.
