In a news conference after meeting with Republicans and Democratic governors – part of an effort to work around the trip administration’s refusal to allow his transition team access to the federal agencies coordinating the coronavirus response – Biden accused of blaming Trump’s actions. ” The result, he said, is that “an incredibly damaging message is being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy works.”
“It’s hard to understand how this man thinks. It’s hard to imagine,” Biden said. “It’s just insulting, that’s what he’s doing.”
Biden said he is moving forward with expanding his administration, and has selected a nominee for Treasury Secretary, which he intends to announce sooner or later on Thanksgiving.
“You will see that he is someone who will be accepted by all elements of the Democratic Party from a progressive and moderate coalition,” Biden told reporters in Delaware.
Biden’s selection for the Treasury could be the first candidate for a presidential-elected announced cabinet secretary. His transition team has so far focused on building their senior White House staff, led by Chief of Staff Ron Klein. Klein told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that Biden’s team will announce the selection of more White House staff on Friday, and will continue to interview cabinet prospects and make decisions.
Biden’s comments came after a virtual meeting with Republican and Democratic governors, where he discussed the national mask order, plans to distribute the coronavirus vaccine and the need to help cash-strapped states.
The meeting showed how Biden works around Trump, dealing directly with the states as Trump’s outgoing administration denies Biden’s transition team’s federal agencies and their plans to access, ultimately distributing a vaccine.
Discussing his meeting on Thursday, Biden told reporters that governors had expressed concern about how long it took to make coronavirus tests widely available and hoped to avoid similar delays once the vaccine was ready for delivery.
“This is not a one-sided meeting,” Biden said. “We agreed that we would continue to meet with governors on a regular basis; we would continue to take their input.”
Biden, the coronavirus advisory body, has gathered as a virtual meeting was held on Thursday with Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and a group of medical experts, 10 members of the executive committee of the National Governors Association.
The list of participants includes Republican Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gary Herbert of Utah, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Asha Hutchinson of Arkansas and K Ivy of Alabama; Democrats included New York’s Rev. Andrew Cuomo, New Mexico’s Michelle Lugan Grisham, Colorado’s Jared Police, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, and Delaware’s John Carney.
The meeting showed that some Republican governors are accepting the fact that Biden won the election and will be sworn in on January 20, as the epidemic continues.
Biden admitted on Thursday that the delay was causing his transition team to falter, saying without the GSA administrator’s sign-without f, “we don’t have access to all the information we need from all the different agencies.”
Among the governors, however, Biden told reporters that there is broad consensus on a number of issues, including the need for a national mask order. Wearing a mask, Byden said, “It’s not a political statement; it’s a patriotic duty.”
He also called on Congress to pass legislation that would help states, local governments and tribal communities pay for vital services and fund their national guards.
“States and communities should not put down teachers, cops, firefighters, cut off vital services for families and businesses,” Biden said.
Governors were aware of how long it took to deliver coronavirus tests, Biden said – emphasizing the need for a plan to deliver quickly once a vaccine is found.
He said he did not see any scenario in which he would seek any kind of national economic embargo.
Biden said, “I’m not going to shut down the economy, the period. I’m going to shut down the virus. That’s what I’m going to shut down.”
“Not a national closure, because every region, every region, every community can be different. And so there are no circumstances that I can see that a complete national closure is needed,” he said. “I think it will be hostile.”
CNN’s Sarah Mucha and Kate Sullivan will contribute to the report.
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