Ronald J. Hansen| Arizona Republic
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema privately praised Rep. Andy Biggs months after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol many suspect he helped stoke, and she questioned why she needed to wear a mask in an early 2021 meeting with President Joe Biden, a new book says.
“This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future” is an account of the shift from former President Donald Trump to the Biden administration, but it adds new detail to the image of Sinema, D-Ariz., often at odds with her own party and who took Republican positions on several fronts, from tax policy to combating the spread of COVID-19.
Sinema’s office declined to comment about the forthcoming book, which they characterized as “unsourced rumors.”
In a passage about negotiations over Biden’s stalled “Build Back Better” agenda, authors Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, both reporters for the New York Times, use unnamed sources to describe a September fundraiser Sinema attended with Republican-friendly business groups.
The groups opposed a bill trying to merge the version that passed the House of Representatives and a slimmer outline being considered in the Senate.
Sinema told the groups there were elements of the package she liked, such as the child tax credit and provisions intended to address climate change, a position she publicly discussed as well. But Sinema then reportedly offered views that were a “delight” to her audience.
