WATCH: Biden Explicitly Refuses To Rule Out Ignoring Debt Limit If Republicans Insist on ‘Ridiculous’ Cuts

President Joe Biden explicitly refused to rule out the possibility of invoking the 14th Amendment to challenge the constitutionality of the debt limit, thereby bypassing budget negotiations with Republicans altogether, when speaking with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Friday.

In an interview that aired on Friday’s The 11th Hour, Biden drew some ire from the left when he called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy an “honest man,” and made a show of continuing to answer questions after facing criticism at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over his availability to the press.

On the question of the debt limit fight, Biden rejected Republican claims that he and the Democrats are pushing toward default, instead saying it is Republicans who are doing that.

“in less than four weeks, the government’s going to run out of money, and so many of these economic wins could fall by the wayside. As president, what are you going to do to help us avoid default?” asked Ruhle.

“Look, not a single solitary Congress has ever reneged on a debt,” Biden answered. “The idea that we wouldn’t pay our debt is just bizarre.”

He said the Republicans are insisting on a “ridiculous” plan, a “Republican MAGA budget” that will never pass, and he’s told McCarthy to just pass the debt limit increase, “like you did four, three times when Trump was president.”

Ruhle then asked him directly whether he’d consider invoking the 14th Amendment, a theoretical way to go around Congress that was outlined by the New York Times this week, which the paper noted “previous administrations had deemed unthinkable.”

Rather than saying that, no, he would not consider it, Biden explicitly left the option on the table in his response, only saying he isn’t looking to do so “yet.”

“I’ve not gotten there yet,” said Biden. He then added that the “ridiculous” Republican “MAGA budget” that has no possibility of passing is something he is “prepared to negotiate in detail,” although to date he has not done despite the narrowing window.

RUHLE: As I said, you have a very strong economic recovery story, but this is a very volatile Congress. There are members of Congress that might be OK with us defaulting —

BIDEN: I know that.

RUHLE: — because they think it could hurt you more politically. Given that, are you prepared to invoke the 14th Amendment and blow through the debt ceiling?

BIDEN: I’ve not gotten there yet. And here’s the deal, I think that — first of all, this is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different —

RUHLE: No, sir.

BIDEN: — a different group. And I think that we have to make it clear to the American people that I am prepared to negotiate in detail with their budget. How much are you going to spend? How much are you going to tax? Where can we cut?

For example, in the first years of my administration, I cut the debt by $1.7 trillion, 1.7 — more than anybody’s ever done in history. Their budget goes in and they — there’s no — and there’s no possibility they can pass their budget, zero. Zero possibility. They cut — they cut 200 — anyway, I won’t — I shouldn’t get going on it, but…

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.