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Joe Biden says ‘this is not a third Obama term’ in first sit-down interview
In his first sit-down interview since the election, President-elect Joe Biden declared his presidency would not be “a third Obama term” and promised to represent the full spectrum of the country and the Democratic party.
Speaking with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Tuesday evening, Biden said the challenges facing him were unique and sought to shake off the shadow of the man who he served as vice-president.
The interview came as Biden announced a slew of cabinet nominees, which included many alumni of the Obama administration.
“What do you say to those who wonder if you’re trying to create a third Obama term?” asked Holt.
“This is not a third Obama term. We face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama-Biden administration,” Biden answered. “President Trump has changed the landscape.”His administration aimed to represent the “spectrum of the American people as well as the spectrum of the Democratic party” Biden added, agreeing that he’d even consider appointing a Republican who voted for Trump.
“I want this country to be united,” Biden said.
He also said that he wouldn’t “use the justice department as my vehicle” to investigate Donald Trump and his allies, despite pressure from some Democrats to ensure the president’s financial dealings, and allegations that he sought foreign interference in the election, are further investigated. When Trump leaves office in January, he will lose the constitutional protection from prosecution afforded to a sitting president.
But Biden said he’d rather his administration stay out of the fray. “There are a number of investigations that I’ve read about that are at a state level. There’s nothing at all I can or cannot do about that,” Biden said.
Biden expressed his wish to pursue a “progressive” agenda. Asked if he’d consulted with progressive senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders on cabinet appointments, the president-elect said “there’s nothing really off the table” when it comes to who he’ll tap to join his administration. But, he said, “taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House … is a really difficult decision that will have to be made”.Although progressives have lauded Biden’s decision to nominate Janet Yellen for treasury secretary and appoint Ron Klain as chief of staff, prominent leftist voices including representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have expressed wariness that Biden might pick Bruce Reed, a former Biden chief of staff, to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “We are extremely concerned by the reports that Reed is a frontrunner to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Biden administration, given his history of antipathy towards economic security programs that working people rely on,” the congresswoman said in a petition she cosigned, along with other progressive leaders.
With more administration staff announcements pending, Biden told Holt the team is focused on coordinating a transition, noting that the Trump administration’s outreach “has been sincere”.
“They’re already working out my ability to get presidential daily briefs,” he told Holt. “We’re already working out meeting with the Covid team in the White House. And how to not only distribute, but get from a vaccine being distributed to a person being able to get vaccinated.”
On Wednesday, Biden will deliver a Thanksgiving address, from Wilmington, Delaware, and will “discuss the shared sacrifices Americans are making this holiday season and say that we can and will get through the current crisis together”, according to the transition team.
It will likely stand in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s turkey pardoning today. Trump thanked healthcare workers and celebrated vaccine development advances, but did not offer condolences for the families of the quarter-million who’ve died of the coronavirus.
The president-elect has taken pains to paint himself and his administration as foils to Trump and Trump’s administration. On Tuesday, while the president tweeted, in all caps, “America First”, Biden outlined during a Wilmington press conference his vision for a country “ready to lead the world, not retreat from it”.
He told Holt that he was pleased to have spoken to “over 20 world leaders”, and said, “they are really excited”.
• This article was amended on 25 November 2020. An earlier version used the word “weariness” when wariness was meant. More Can America Confront Its Deadly Failure?
Just when you thought you might breathe a sigh of relief in America with the victorious Biden administration on its way, it turns out that over 73 million people voted for Trump, the loser. That is truly difficult to comprehend for most of us who did not.
Worse yet, since the national response to the coronavirus pandemic was clearly on the ballot, you have to assume that most of those “enlightened” souls were impressed enough with Trump’s pandemic response that they continued to support him. And despite overwhelming evidence that COVID-19 was exponentially rampaging through the populace as the election approached and that well over 200,000 Americans were already dead on his watch, they voted for him anyway.
Where Do We Stand With the Pfizer Vaccine?
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Now, Trump is splitting time between a post-election bunker and the golf course, refusing to do anything to advance a national plan to confront the coronavirus, while continuing to support the coronavirus denial narrative. That leaves those 73 million souls in a quandary — wear a mask or give up all of your freedoms. What to do?
Too Little, Too Late?
An initial national plan to move forward has been repeatedly articulated — a mask mandate, enforced social distancing in public places, readily available testing and contact tracing, and consistent messaging from public officials and the scientific community about personal hygiene and the dangers of indoor gatherings of any kind. Starting there and starting now is critical, particularly with the news that there may be a vaccine on the horizon. While this is good news for sure, it cannot be allowed to provide yet another excuse for the nation to avoid the inconvenience of collectively trying very hard to save some lives and protect so many others from tragic outcomes.
However, the potential for future vaccination of the populace is so fraught with serious logistical and public health challenges that not even the most optimistic vaccine purveyors believe that vaccination will happen in large numbers before the spring. That leaves almost 60 days until the Biden inauguration and four months before spring arrives. At the current rate of over 150,000 new coronavirus cases a day, that is over 9 million new cases by Inauguration Day and more than double that to the first day of spring. The COVID-19 death numbers are equally staggering at a present rate of over 1,500 humans a day.
There has been and continues to be so much wrong with the US response to the pandemic and the resulting casualties that it is hard to know where to start. But to be clear, Trump and his acolytes are now standing in the way of the development and implementation of any cohesive national plan, only adding to the blood on their hands from the daily death count. As a nation, we were ready to go to war, raise the flag and trumpet our national might when 3,000 of our own were killed by terrorists on 9/11. Now, 73 million Americans seem content to sit on their “patriotic” hands while that number are dying preventable deaths every two days and counting.
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To illustrate how we got here, it was not so long ago that the governor of South Dakota, a full-throated cheerleader for the coronavirus denier crowd, welcomed Trump and thousands of guests to a big old July 4th rally at Mount Rushmore. Freedom was everywhere, in every unmasked smile and virus spewing cheer. No need for social distancing, it was all one big Trump-crazed family taking one for the unmasked emperor.
And then to follow up and reinforce the messaging, how about a huge motorcycle rally in the midst of a pandemic? Another good idea from the governor of South Dakota — bring tens of thousands of drunken and drugged Trump biker “patriots” from all over America in August to celebrate this great country of ours in a place called Sturgis, population 7,000. Well, as of today, the COVID-19 test positivity rate in the great state of South Dakota is just under 50%, and there is still no mask mandate from the governor.
By looking back just a little and trying to comprehend the present, it should be clear that President-elect Joe Biden has quite a challenge ahead of him. Planning can begin now, but a national plan cannot begin to be implemented until Trump gets out of the way.
Since Trump and his acolytes are unable to accept being losers, let’s tag them as killers and see if we can get their attention. Now, even more than before, that is surely what they are. They are killing people in America who don’t have to die. While this may not be the time for legal niceties, “negligent homicide” seems to fit the bill. And it is surely time to make it part of the conversation.
COVID-19 and the Holiday Season
I am certain as I write this that the number of coronavirus deaths will soar in the days and weeks ahead. This is not a medical conclusion. Rather it is the only conclusion that reason suggests as we watch millions of Americans gather together for the holidays believing that “they” are immune from tragedy, kind of like people who text and drive and keep loaded guns in easy reach of the children they say they love. But more than that, it will be the price that the nation pays for its flailing and failing collective morality.
As freedom rings and holiday bells jingle, as choirs sing and families gather around a tree sharing good cheer, this will also be the season for many to visit hospitals and funeral homes trying to figure out how it is possible that daddy is dead. Well, let me tell you, daddy is dead because a nation with the resources to keep daddy alive and well collectively failed to do so.
It is also because of a failure of national leadership that has no historic precedent. Let me repeat this: Trump and his acolytes have blood on their hands. Those who support his continued refusal to cede authority immediately to the incoming Biden administration for implementation of a national pandemic response should check their hands as well.
Yes, I am a Trump hater, and I will cheer the day that he is held accountable for his crimes.
*[This article was co-published on the author’s blog, Hard Left Turn.]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy. More
- in Elections
'A cabinet that looks like America': Harris hails Biden's diverse picks
President-elect Joe Biden formally introduced his first round of cabinet nominations on Tuesday, a move broadly welcomed as a restoration of the old Washington and international order after the turmoil of the Trump administration.
Biden has also blunted criticism from progressives on his left flank by emphasising diversity and the fight against the climate crisis, although the Democratic party’s internal fractures are far from healed.
Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday, the president-elect said: “It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back. Ready to lead the world, not retreat from it. Once again sit at the head of the table, ready to confront our adversaries and not reject our allies. Ready to stand up for our values.”
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris added: “When Joe asked me to be his running mate, he told me about his commitment to making sure we selected a cabinet that looks like America – that reflects the very best of our nation. That is what we have done.”
Biden said that in John Kerry, a former secretary of state and presidential nominee, America would have a full-time climate leader for the first time, someone with “a seat at every table around the world”. Biden also said the 2004 nominee, “one of my closest friends”, would be “speaking for America on one of the most prescient threats of our time. No one I trust more.”
The former vice-president spoke at a blue lectern labelled “Office of the president elect”, on a stage with a matching blue backdrop. He promised to restore America’s global and moral leadership, ensuring service personnel and diplomats are “free of politics”.
He added: “They’ll not only repair but also reimagine American foreign policy and national security for the next generation.” More - in US Politics
Joe Biden's cabinet picks: what we've learned from his choices so far
On Tuesday, Joe Biden formally introduced his first slate of picks for cabinet posts.
One Senate Republican said Biden’s choices “went to Ivy League schools, have strong resumés, attend all the right conferences and will be polite and orderly caretakers of America’s decline”.
Another scoffed that the list of names resembled a guest list for a “Georgetown dinner”.
But most, less partial, observers agreed that after four years of chaos under Donald Trump, himself a self-proclaimed outsider, a dose of insider knowledge and institutional stability might be just what Washington needs.
Here are five things we’ve learned so far about Biden’s choices.
Experience counts…
“If not household names,” the Washington Post opined, “Biden’s picks are steeped in the ways” of the capital, knowing the place as Donald Trump’s collection of political allies, businessmen, donors, grifters, gadflies and relatives did not.
Secretary of state nominee Tony Blinken, for example, worked for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and for Biden when he was Obama’s vice-president. Janet Yellen, now heading for the treasury, was chair of the Federal Reserve. John Kerry, the climate envoy, was a Massachusetts senator for 28 years, ran for president in 2004 and was secretary of state in Obama’s second term.
Nor are those named for less prominent positions callow or untried. National security adviser pick Jake Sullivan is “only” 43 years old but he worked for Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state and for Biden when he was VP. Avril Haines, named director of national intelligence, is a former deputy chief of the CIA, deputy national security adviser and deputy chief counsel to Senate Democrats.
…but so does having worked for Obama
Experience can also bring baggage. Biden worked for the 44th president and so did many of his hires, to the extent, Politico reported on Tuesday, that some who worked on the Biden campaign this time round are feeling a little cheesed off.
“The Obama staffers are now cutting out the people who got Biden elected,” the website quoted a senior Biden official as saying. “None of these people found the courage to help the vice-president when he was running and now they are elevating their friends over the Biden people. It’s fucked up.”
Another Biden adviser who worked on the campaign, Politico said, called that criticism “very valid”.
Big positions, among them secretary of defense and attorney general, remain to be filled. Contrary to many progressive dreams, they will not be filled by Obama himself. Promoting his memoir, the former president has ruled out taking any role under Biden. If he did, he says, his wife Michelle would leave him.
Internationalism is back
One potentially positive side of a reliance on Obama alumni is to be found in the fact that Obama was a world president, intent on strong relationships with allies as well as engagement with traditional foes, an approach far removed from Trump’s attacks on America’s friends and alarming habit of cosying up to dictators. In short, the likes of Blinken, Yellen and Kerry already have strong relations with government leaders and officials in the international centre who are desperate for a reset.
“Tony Blinken’s ties to Europe are lifelong, deep and personal,” Politico Europe wrote on Tuesday, discussing his near-flawless French, past life in Paris, skepticism about Brexit and status as “a fierce believer in the transatlantic alliance”.
“On every major foreign policy issue – terrorism, climate, pandemics, trade, China, the Iran nuclear deal – he has a recurring mantra: the US should work with its allies and within international treaties and organisations.”
Diversity matters …
The Post called Biden’s win “something akin to the revenge of the Washington establishment”, but the Democrat has so far also lived up to his promise to name an administration which reflects American diversity far more strongly than Trump’s did. More - in US Politics
Trump agrees to begin transition as key agency calls Biden apparent election winner
The General Services Administration has declared president-elect Joe Biden the apparent winner of the US election, clearing the way for the formal transition from Donald Trump’s administration to begin after weeks of delay.
The GSA said on Monday that it had determined that Biden was the winner of the 3 November race after weeks of Trump refusing to concede and violating the traditions of the transition of power at the White House.
Trump said on Twitter he had directed his team to cooperate on the transition, but vowed to continue fighting the election results, despite the lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud. Hours later, he said: “Will never concede to fake ballots & ‘Dominion’.”
Emily Murphy, who heads the GSA, said she made the determination based on “the law” and “facts.”
“Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any executive branch official including those who work at the White House or GSA with regard to the substance or timing of my decision,” Murphy wrote in a letter to Biden.
Murphy had faced growing pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to allow the transition to begin, as Trump’s efforts to challenge the results in numerous battleground states failed.
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday tossed a Trump campaign lawsuit that sought to prevent certification in that state. And on Monday, Michigan certified Biden’s victory, despite an unprecedented push by the president last week to undermine that move to allow for an audit of ballots in Wayne county, where Biden won by more than 330,000 votes.
GSA certification is a process that in typical election years occurs without fanfare or discussion shortly after the race is called by major news outlets.
Murphy’s refusal to declare Biden the winner weeks after the election prevented the transition team of Biden and Vice president-elect Kamala Harris from accessing federal funding and meeting with government officials to prepare for inauguration on 20 January.
The delay was particularly concerning given the urgent and unprecedented tasks facing the federal government amid a significantly worsening pandemic and economic crisis. The US must also begin work to prepare a national rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. There were also major concerns about the potential national security implications of a delayed transition, which blocked Biden from accessing classified briefings.
After Murphy’s letter was made public, Trump tweeted, “We will keep up the good fight and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
The Trump legal team dismissed the certification as “simply a procedural step” and insisted it would fight on.
Yohannes Abraham, executive director of the Biden transition, said in a statement Monday that the move by the GSA “is a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track”.
He added: “In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies.”
With GSA permitting the formal transition to start, more Republicans started to acknowledge the reality that Biden is president-elect.
“President Trump’s legal team has not presented evidence of the massive fraud which would have had to be present to overturn the election,” said Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana. “I voted for President Trump but Joe Biden won.”
A majority of GOP senators have refused to recognize Biden’s win, arguing that Trump should be allowed to pursue his cases in court, despite the lack of evidence of any widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the race. Since the Associated Press and other news organizations across the country declared Biden the winner on 7 November, five days after polls closed, Trump and his allies have continued to spread misinformation and baseless conspiracy theories, seeking to undermine the legitimacy of mail-in voting and falsely asserting that the election was “stolen”.
Audits, recounts and the Trump campaign’s court cases, however, have resulted in no meaningful changes to the election results, and in some cases, Biden’s lead has only increased. Judges repeatedly thr ew out the Trump campaign team’s cases.
But the false accusations of fraud did lead some election officials to seek to delay certification of the vote. The city commissioner’s office in Philadelphia, where counting took days, reported facing death threats, and Trump supporters have staged protests outside election offices across the US.
Murphy’s letter came on the same day that Biden announced his selection for several key cabinet roles. The president-elect said he would be nominating Tony Blinken as secretary of state, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and John Kerry as “climate tsar”, suggesting a return to the priorities of the Obama era.
Biden also selected Alejandro Mayorkas for homeland security secretary. If he is confirmed, he would be the first Latino and migrant to have the position. He has further chosen Avril Haines to be the first female director of national intelligence and Janet Yellen to be the country’s first female treasury secretary. More - in US Politics
Q&A: what does the General Services Administration's decision mean?
The US government’s General Services Administration on Monday ascertained Joe Biden is the apparent winner of the 2020 presidential election, allowing for the presidential transition to officially begin.
Donald Trump on Monday tweeted he had directed his team to cooperate on the transition, but he vowed to continue fighting the election results.
What does the GSA’s decision mean? And why is the step a crucial one in the transfer of power?
What is the GSA?
The GSA is a huge agency that keeps the federal government functioning day to day. In order for a presidential transition to officially begin, the GSA had to recognize a presidential winner – or rather, ascertain the “apparent successful candidate” in the general election. The Presidential Transition Act and other federal policies do not specify how that process should work, but the process is meant to be apolitical.
In typical election years, it occurs without fanfare or discussion shortly after the race is called by major news outlets. In 2016, the agency began making office space available for the winning candidate’s team as early as August, and the transition was able to begin after Hillary Clinton conceded to Trump the day after the election.
Why was the move delayed this year?
The agency and its director, Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee, said it was important to wait to see how litigation by Donald Trump’s campaign and recounts in the days following the election could affect the election results.
In a letter informing Biden of the agency’s move on Monday, Murphy said she “looked to precedent from prior elections involving legal challenges and incomplete counts” in imposing a delay.
Republicans defending Murphy have pointed out that transition was delayed in 2000 as the court battle between Al Gore and George W Bush over the results in Florida played out. But Biden’s team has pointed out that in that case, only 500 votes separated the two candidates in that state. Even in states where Trump is contesting the result, Biden is leading Trump with thousands of votes.
Before Murphy ascertained Biden the winner, House Democrats had sent her a letter asking her to clearly explain the reasons for her delay by Monday.
What does the news mean?
The GSA move allows Biden and his team to access classified briefings and meet with government officials. It also gives Biden officials access to office space and funds to pay the transition team. Prior to the GSA’s move on Monday, the Biden-Harris team had been raising money to fund the transition process, absent access to government-allocated funds.
With the GSA’s approval, Biden’s team can also move over to government email and receive help from the Department of Homeland Security to protect the privacy of incoming officials as they plan out, for example, national security strategies. Until now, the team had also lacked cybersecurity support to shield email and other communication amid concerns that Russia, China, or other foreign adversaries could intercept classified information.
Why is it so crucial?
The Biden administration will face a host of urgent and unprecedented challenges when taking office on 20 January, as coronavirus cases across the US rise and Congress has not agreed on a relief package to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.
Biden had warned last week that “because of the lack of ascertainment by the GSA, my transition team hasn’t been able to get access to the information we need to be able to deal with everything from testing and guidance to the all-important issue of vaccine distribution and vaccination plan”.
Last week, as the Biden-Harris team attempted to begin the transition process despite the GSA holdup, they reached out to Trump administration officials who had recently left their posts, in an attempt to glean key information while being locked out of official briefings. More
