WAIT, YOU CAN APOLOGIZE FOR AND CLARIFY A MISTAKE?:

In a statement, Biden said he had "created the impression that I was issuing a veto threat on the very plan I had just agreed to, which was certainly not my intent". [...]

Tensions appeared to have cooled by Saturday, after White House negotiators Steve Ricchetti and Louisa Terrell assured senators Biden remained enthusiastic about the deal and would make a forceful public case for it in trips around the US.

In his statement on Saturday afternoon, Biden said: "To be clear, our bipartisan agreement does not preclude Republicans from attempting to defeat my Families Plan. Likewise, they should have no objections to my devoted efforts to pass that Families Plan and other proposals in tandem. We will let the American people - and the Congress - decide."

He added: "The bottom line is this. I gave my word to support the infrastructure plan and that is what I intend to do."

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