Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters
With just days to go until a catastrophic default on U.S. debt, Republicans are openly bragging that in exchange for accepting massive spending cuts, the grand prize for Democrats would merely be getting the hostage back alive.
“We’re not inclined,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told Semafor on Tuesday, “to negotiate with the hostage.”
These days, it’s unclear who or what exactly is the hostage—Democrats say Republicans are holding the economy and a debt limit increase hostage, while Republicans seem to think Democrats themselves may be the hostage—but one thing is clear: Democrats are negotiating over extending the federal government’s borrowing authority.