President Biden blamed the Trump administration Monday morning for the weekend collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, while touting the “strong economic progress” of his administration over the past two years.
“During the Obama-Biden administration, we put in place tough requirements on banks … to make sure that the crisis we saw in 2008 would not happen again. Unfortunately, the last administration rolled back some of these requirements,” Biden said, speaking from the Roosevelt Room at the White House.
Biden went on to reassure the public that their deposits are safe and that taxpayers won’t bear the costs. However, as TheBlaze noted earlier, the Wall Street Journal editorial board said the guarantees for tech magnates’ uninsured deposits and the Fed’s loans to big banks are together “a de facto bailout of the banking system, even as regulators and Biden officials have been telling us that the economy is great and there was nothing to worry about.”
“The banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them,” Biden said, before ducking reporters’ questions and heading to California.
“Customers who had deposits in these banks can rest assured they’ll be protected and they’ll have access to their money today,” Biden also said.
“No losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” Biden said. “Instead, the money will come from the fees that the banks pay into the insurance deposit fund.”
Biden said the managers of the affected banks would be fired.
“If the bank is taken over by the FDIC, the people running the bank should not work there any more,” he said.
“That’s how capitalism works,” Biden also said, explaining that the banks’ investors, who knowingly took a risk that did not pay off, will not be protected.
Biden insisted on a “full accounting of what happened and why,” saying those accountable must be held responsible. Further, Biden said he would ask Congress to tighten banking regulations to decrease the likilihood of additional bank failures.
Regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank Friday amid liquidity concerns. Crypto-focused Signature Bank was also closed by regulators on Sunday.
Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank would not receive bailouts akin to those provided in 2008.
However, that same day, officials announced depositors would have access to “all their money” starting Monday, according to a joint statement from Yellen, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell, and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg.
Biden wrapped his approximately five-minute remarks with commentary on the current state of the economy. Specifically, he claimed his record on job creation, unemployment figures, take-home pay, and applications for new business start-ups all suggest “strong economic progress.”
Watch President Biden’s full remarks below.
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