McCarthy claims Biden's never taken his calls: I called the White House switchboard to talk to him

close

Video

McCarthy says Biden’s never taken his calls: I had to call the White House switchboard to get through to him

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., slams President Biden for failing to meet with GOP lawmakers.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., hit back at President Biden Thursday over a report claiming he has grown tired of "GOP obstructionism," alleging Biden is the one who refuses to work with Republican lawmakers.

"I've only seen the president a couple of times," McCarthy told "America’s Newsroom." He's never called to ask. I've reached out numerous times. Do you know when he decided to pull out of Afghanistan I called the basic public switchboard to ask to talk to the president? The White House then called to wonder was it really me calling. That was the one time the president actually took my call."

"If he's going to stop working with us, it's no different than what he's done the entire time as president."

A recent Politico piece reported Biden is "finally" rethinking efforts to reach across the aisle and work with Republican lawmakers because of their "obstructionism."

BIDEN APPROVAL RATING TUMBLES TO LOWEST POINT OF HIS PRESIDENCY

On Sunday, Politico’s John Lemire began his piece declaring, "The fever didn’t break. And for the Biden White House, efforts at bipartisanship have finally taken a backseat."

McCarthy argued he'd "love" to work with Biden because Republicans want "the best for this country" and urged the president to meet with him on the border crisis and lifting Title 42.

Biden makes odd remark about American students learning Spanish (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

"I've been there numerous times to tell him what's going on," he said. "If he doesn't want to go there, I want to bring members down who have been there to tell them what effects would happen if he lifted Title 42. He doesn't want to have that meeting. We talked about baby formula. We wanted to get ahead of this. We warned him months ago. We sent him letters that this was a problem that he ignored."

Biden's approval rating remains underwater and more than 80% of registered voters say the U.S. is on the wrong track, according to a Thursday poll from Monmouth University.

Video

The poll found that Biden's approval rating is sitting at 38%, with 57% disapproval. Those numbers are down from March when Biden had a 39% approval and 54% disapproval. Monmouth also found that just 18% of Americans say the country is on the right track.

Monmouth polled 807 Americans from May 5-9, reporting a margin of error of 3.5%. It conducted a live telephone interview with each of the respondents.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Monmouth has tracked a consistent drop in the number of Americans who are optimistic about the country's path. In January 2021, 42% of Americans said the country was headed in the right direction, and 51% said it was not.

Fox News' Gabriel Hays and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.