President Joe Biden held the first formal press conference of his presidency on Thursday – much later than his last 15 predecessors and one that looked very different due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While previous press conferences saw rooms full of White House press corps, Biden only had 30 reporters with a social distance in the East Room of the White House.
He began by announcing that he has now set a new target of 200 million vaccine doses by the end of his first 100 days in office, having reached his original goal of 100 million doses on Day 58 last week.
After touting the benefits of his $ 1.9 trillion COVID contingency plan and progress in the recovery of the economy, Biden was immediately faced with questions about the growing challenges that took the focus away from his bid for his legislative victory. sales, including the migrant push at the southern border. , and the widespread Republican opposition to its political agenda on immigration reform, arms control and the right to vote.
“I was chosen to solve problems,” Biden replied when asked if he would be blocked from fulfilling his campaign promises. “There are a lot of problems,” he said, but argued that those other problems were “long-term problems,” when he initially had to concentrate fully on tackling the pandemic and the economic consequences.
“ I think my Republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to work together or decide that the way they want to move forward is just decide to divide the country, continue the politics of division, but that’s going to go I don’t. I’ll just go ahead and take these things as they come, ”said Biden.
Biden calls shelter for migrant children ‘totally unacceptable’
U.S. Customs and Border Protection are struggling to address the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing the border, which is expected to increase in the coming months, and news media access to children’s facilities is extremely limited and strict checked.
When asked if the reports from him and his administration led to the migrant push, Biden pushed back, saying the influx happens every year. He also argued that many of the current problems were motivated by the failures of former President Donald Trump.
“So what we’re doing now is trying to rebuild the system that’s right for what’s happening today,” Biden said. “And I’d like to think it’s because I’m a nice guy, but it’s not, it’s because of what has happened every year.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed Biden on the conditions for migrant children being held in US border facilities, particularly in Donna, Texas. Images of that facility released earlier this week showed the overcrowding.
“There are kids sleeping on floors. They’re packed in these pods. I’ve spoken to lawyers who say some of these kids haven’t seen the sun for days. What’s your reaction to these images coming out of that particular facility?” “Is what’s happening inside acceptable to you? And when will this be resolved?” Vega asked.
Biden called the conditions “totally unacceptable.”
That’s why we’re going to move a thousand of those kids soon. That’s why I opened Fort Bliss. That’s why since this started working, I’ve been trying to find extra access for kids to be able to be safe, not just kids , but especially children, to be able to be safely housed while we get on with the rest of what’s happening, ”said Biden.
Biden was also committed to transparency and access to the facilities, although he said he did not say when and where he would allow reporters and cameras.
Biden steps aside as he tackles gun control
Also asked about the politically charged issue of gun control, after a mass shooting in Atlanta last week killed eight people and 10 were killed in a shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado on Monday.
Biden has called on Congress to take action, but has yet to submit his own gun control legislation – despite a campaign promise to send a bill to Congress on its first day to withdraw liability protections for gun manufacturers and close the background check. loopholes.
When asked when he would propose his promised reforms, he stepped out of the way and said, “Stay tuned,” adding that that answer also applied to other key points on his agenda, saying infrastructure his next priority was.
“It’s a matter of timing,” he said. As you all have noted, successful presidents, better than me, have been successful in large part because they know how to time what they are doing. Give order. Determine in priorities what needs to be done. ‘
Ignore the filibuster
Biden suggested for the first time that he might be open to moving beyond just restoring the ‘talking filibuster’ if he’s unable to get anything off his agenda through a stalled Senate, which is a reversal of his previous comments detailing his Senate experience of making deals.
“If we have to, if there’s a complete lockdown and chaos as a result of the filibuster, then we’ll have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” Biden said.
Biden said the current filibuster is “being abused in a gigantic way.”
‘You used to have to stand there and talk and talk and talk and talk until you collapsed. Guess what? People got tired of talking and tired of collapsing. Filibusters broke and we were able to break the filibuster, a quorum and votes, ”Biden said.
The GOP has already hit back on Biden’s comments. Senator Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Issued a statement within minutes of Biden’s press conference.
“Senator Biden was a ruthless defender of the filibuster – but now that President Biden looks in the mirror and sees FDR, he’s holding the door open for 180 days to blow up the institution he defended for four decades,” Sasse said in a statement. He was right to put it this way several times: ‘The Senate should not act hastily by changing its rules to satisfy a strong-willed majority.’
America in the world
Another topic that came up was foreign policy. In his first two months in office, Biden has seen escalating tensions with Russia and China, renewed missile tests from North Korea and an approaching May 1 deadline to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.
Biden said he sees North Korea as his main foreign policy issue, in response to Kim Jon Un’s provocative missile launch this week by saying he was working with allies on a response. He said he is open to diplomacy with Pyongyang as long as it results in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
As to whether and when US forces will leave Afghanistan, he said it will be difficult to withdraw them by the May 1 deadline agreed by President Trump, but noted that this “was not the case.” [his] intend to stay there for a long time. “
“The answer is that it will be difficult to meet the May 1 deadline, just in terms of tactical reasons it is difficult to get those troops out,” said Biden, adding that he does not expect them to be there. net year. .
Running for another semester?
Biden was also asked if he will run for re-election in 2024.
“My plan is to run for reelection,” Biden said. “That’s my expectation.”
He brushed aside the questions of whether he thought he might start running against Trump again and said he “doesn’t even think about that.” But he did respond to a question about whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be his running mate in 2024.
“I would fully expect that to be the case,” said Biden. ‘She’s doing great. She’s a great partner. ‘