In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Tuesday night, President-elect Joe Biden addressed critiques that his administration is relying upon too many figures who beforehand served beneath former President Barack Obama.
“This is not a third Obama term because we face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama-Biden administration,” Biden mentioned when Holt requested if his upcoming tenure as commander-in-chief would largely be an extension of the forty fourth president’s.
“President Trump has changed the landscape. It’s become ‘America First’; it’s been ‘America Alone.’ We find ourselves in a position where our alliances are being frayed. … That’s why I’ve found people who joined the administration and keep points that represent the spectrum of the American people as well as the spectrum of the Democratic Party.”
Biden’s incoming administration consists of Obama-era politicians like former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Alejandro Mayorkas, who beforehand served because the deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The president-elect has tapped the boys for secretary of state and homeland safety secretary, respectively.
When Holt requested if he would contemplate nominating any Republicans who had beforehand supported Trump, Biden responded that he had no timeline on such an announcement, however could be open to it to assist unite the nation.
“The purpose of our administration is once again uniting,” Biden mentioned. “We can’t keep this virulent political dialogue going. It has to end.”
Holt additionally requested Biden about probably appointing former Democratic opponents like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Biden mentioned nothing was off the desk however that protecting progressive allies within the House and Senate was foremost in his thoughts.
“I’ve talked to them,” Biden mentioned. “As I’ve said, we already have significant representation among progressives in our administration, but there’s nothing really off the table. But one thing is really critical. Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, particularly a person of consequence, is a really difficult decision that would have to be made. I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda, and it’s going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.”
Biden added that he’d spoken with over 20 world leaders who had been happy that “America was going to reassert its role in the world and be a coalition-builder.” He championed his appointees’ expertise as proof that “America is back.”
Nevertheless, the president-elect’s picks have gotten flak from Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who tweeted this week that the Biden’s Cabinet was crammed with typical profession politicians with Ivy League diplomas who would finally depart the U.S. reliant on international powers resembling China.
Watch Joe Biden’s remarks beneath.
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