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In his first interview since the election, President-elect Joe Biden declared that his presidency would not be “a third term for Obama” and promised to represent the entire spectrum of the country and the Democratic Party.
Speaking to NBC News’ Lester Holt Tuesday night, Biden said the challenges he faced were unique and sought to shed the shadow of the man 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 they are trying to create a third term for Obama?” Holt asked.
“This is not a third term for Obama. We face a totally different world than the one we faced in the Obama-Biden administration, ”Biden responded. “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,” added Biden, agreeing that he would even consider appointing a Republican to vote for Trump.
“I want this country to be united,” Biden said.
He also said he would not “use the Justice Department as my vehicle” to investigate Donald Trump and his allies, despite pressure from some Democrats to secure the president’s financial deals, and allegations that he sought foreign interference in the elections. investigated. When Trump leaves office in January, he will lose the constitutional protection against prosecution afforded to a sitting president.
But Biden said he would prefer his administration stay on the sidelines. “There are a number of investigations that I have read about that are done at the state level. There is absolutely nothing I can or cannot do about it, ”Biden said.
Biden expressed his desire to pursue a “progressive” agenda. When asked if he had consulted with progressive senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders about cabinet appointments, the president-elect said that “there is nothing really off the table” when it comes to who to turn to to join his administration. But, he said, “getting someone out of the Senate, getting someone out of the House … it’s a really tough decision to make.”
Although progressives have praised Biden’s decision to nominate Janet Yellen for Secretary of the Treasury and appoint Ron Klain as chief of staff, prominent left-wing voices, including Representatives Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, have expressed weariness. that Biden can choose Bruce Reed, a former Biden boss. staff, to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “We are extremely concerned by reports that Reed is a pioneer to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under Biden’s administration, given his record of dislike of the economic security programs that workers depend on,” he said. the congresswoman in a petition that she co-signed, along with other progressive leaders.
With more announcements pending from administration staff, Biden told Holt that the team is focused on coordinating a transition, noting that the Trump administration’s approach “has been sincere.”
“They are already working on my ability to get daily presidential reports,” he told Holt. “We are already working on a meeting with the Covid team at the White House. And how not only to distribute, but to obtain a vaccine that is distributed to a person who can be vaccinated ”.
On Wednesday, Biden will deliver a Thanksgiving speech, from Wilmington, Delaware, and will “discuss the shared sacrifices Americans are making this holiday season and say that we can and will overcome the current crisis together,” according to the transition team.
It is likely to be in contrast to Donald Trump’s current pardon. Trump thanked healthcare workers and celebrated progress in vaccine development, but did not offer condolences to the families of the quarter-million who died from the coronavirus.
The president-elect has gone to great lengths to paint himself and his administration as opposed to Trump and the Trump administration. On Tuesday, as the president tweeted, in capital letters, “America first,” Biden described during a press conference in Wilmington his vision of a country “ready to lead the world, not withdraw from it.”
He told Holt that he was pleased to have spoken with “more than 20 world leaders” and said, “They are really excited.”
