Twitter/CNN Brian Deese
Brian Deese is a policy director appointed by President Biden whose comments on video about a “liberal new order” have gone viral.
According to the White House, “President Biden has appointed Brian Deese as the Director of the National Economic Council.”
What is the National Economic Council? According to the White House, the National Economic Council (NEC) “was established in 1993 to advise the President on U.S. and global economic policy. It is part of the Executive Office of the President. By Executive Order, the NEC has four key functions: to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues; to give economic policy advice to the President; to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s economic goals; and to monitor implementation of the President’s economic policy agenda.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Deese Made the ‘Liberal World Order’ Comment in an Interview With CNN About Gas Prices
One share of the video on Twitter has been watched 2.7 million times.
In the video, the CNN anchor asks, “What do you say to those families that say, ‘listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years? This is just not sustainable.’”
Deese responded, “What you heard from the president today is a clear articulation of the stakes. This is about the future of the liberal world order, and we have to stand firm.”
Biden is at the NATO Summit in Madrid. During a press conference, he was also asked about gas prices, and he said that people should expect to pay higher gas prices for “as long as it takes” for Russia to be defeated by Ukraine.
Jim Tankersly of The New York Times asked Biden, “How long is it fair to expect American drivers, and drivers around the world, to pay that premium for this war?”
“As long as it takes,” Biden said. “Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine.”
“The bottom line is ultimately the reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia. The reason why the food crisis exists is because of Russia,” Biden added.
Deese has been tweeting from the summit. “At G7, @POTUS agreed w/leaders to urgently develop a plan to limit the price of Russian oil. This will maximize pain on Putin; help stabilize global energy mkts; & blunt impact of Russian aggression at the pump. Major step forward, made possible by the strength of our alliances,” reads one of his tweets.
Deese Was a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama & Worked as Economic Policy Director for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign
“If you think about where we have come from, we have navigated through Delta and Omicron. We’ve navigated through the gyrations coming from Putin’s war in Ukraine. And still, the American consumer, the American business has been resilient through this period.”
Who is Brian Deese? He was also a senior advisor to the Obama White House. There is still a biography posted from his time in that position. It says,
Brian Deese is currently serving as Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor. His duties include overseeing climate, conservation and energy policy and advising the President on a range of domestic and international policy issues.
Previously, Mr. Deese served as Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, where he helped to oversee the development of the President’s Budgets – including their focus on economic growth and fostering opportunity for working families – and the President’s efforts to deliver a smarter, more innovative and more accountable government.
Prior to OMB, Mr. Deese served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. In this role, Mr. Deese was charged with coordinating policy development on several Administration economic priorities including tax policy, financial regulation, housing, clean energy, manufacturing, and the automotive industry.
Before he joined the Administration, in January of 2009, Mr. Deese worked as a member of the Economic Policy Working Group for the Obama-Biden transition team and was the Deputy Economic Policy Director to the Obama Campaign, where he helped craft the 2008 economic campaign platform. Prior to this Mr. Deese served as Economic Policy Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Previously, Mr. Deese spent three years at the Center for American Progress where he worked as a Senior Policy Analyst for Economic Policy. His work centered on fiscal policy, international trade, and globalization. Mr. Deese has also worked at the Center for Global Development where he co-wrote the book, Delivering on Debt Relief. In addition, his writing has appeared in numerous publications including the Washington Monthly, International Herald Tribune, and the Atlantic Economic Journal. Mr. Deese is a graduate of the Yale Law School, where he received J.D., and Middlebury College.