Former senior advisor to President Joe Biden, Neera Tanden, accused Republican Rep. Mike Lawler (NY) of voting on a bill before he was even a member of Congress, prompting the lawmaker to demand an apology "for lying."
The testy exchange occurred on "CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip" on Monday evening.
Tanden, who had previously been nominated as a member of Biden's cabinet but faced opposition from both sides due to her troubled history, initiated the controversy by commenting on the Trump administration's plans to encourage Americans to have more children.
That topic allowed her to springboard into defending child care and the child tax credit. In doing so, she accused Lawler of voting against a 2022 budget reconciliation bill that emerged from Biden's broader Build Back Better agenda.
"I totally agree that we should do a lot more as an administration to support families. And one way to do that is childcare," said Tanden. "Another way to do that is paid leave. And I think it‘s unfortunate that, you know, conservatives, Republicans have voted against those very ideas in Congress. The child tax credit was opposed by every Republican and Mike Lawler.”
There's just one issue with her claim. And it's a really, really big one. Lawler wasn't in Congress when that vote took place.
Former Biden advisor Neera Tanden was caught lying blatantly. @lawler4ny insists she apologize for the readily provable fabrication.
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) April 22, 2025
Tanden, of course, says she didn't lie. pic.twitter.com/P9zecs2cnj
Representative Lawler immediately called Tanden out for fabricating a vote he never took part in.
"Actually, not," he said after being falsely accused. "But nice try."
"You voted against the reconciliation bill that had actual child care in it. You did. And the child tax credit," Tanden insisted without backing off an inch."
She added, "You voted against it back, way back in 2022."
"I wasn’t elected until ’22. So, I didn’t come to Congress until ’23. But thank you," countered Lawler. "So, you apologize for lying?"
To absolutely nobody's surprise, Tanden was not, in fact, going to apologize.
“I‘m not lying," she said after very clearly lying.
Clintonista Neera Tanden Scolds Progressives Who Dare Bring Up Questions About Biden's Decline
Lawler notes that since coming to Congress, he has "supported the child tax credit" and "co-sponsored legislation to that effect."
Tanden responds by fully admitting that her entire false narrative was shellacked in epic fashion. Just kidding, she reduces his efforts, which go back to her original argument, with a dismissive, "Okay, great. I think that’s wonderful."
I lied. You proved it. The proof counters my entire argument, so I'll just pretend, hey, everything is cool.
As is often the case during such moments, Phillip then pounced and pivoted, ending the segment and subsequently rescuing her frazzled left-wing guest. You know, rather than calling out Tanden for misinformation on her show, which would cost her own credibility, provided there was any credibility to lose in the first place.
Tanden has a rich history of lying, which makes it confounding why CNN would use her as a guest on its programs in the first place. She aggressively promoted the notion that Russians "interfered" in the 2016 election and propagated a wild conspiracy theory that they actually altered vote totals.
That's election denialism on a scale that this very network would have argued should result in prison time.
Tanden also slammed progressives for bringing up Biden's clear and obvious mental decline, helping to cover it up in the process.
Truth isn't her strong suit. And yet, CNN will likely have her back on air with open arms in the future.
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