Biden touts accomplishments, calls for peaceful transition after Trump’s election win

President Biden made his first public comments since Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the election. Several cabinet secretaries and staff gathered in the Rose Garden as Biden praised Harris’ campaign and sent an optimistic message about the accomplishments of their administration. He went on to promise a peaceful transfer of power. Laura Barrón-López reports.
Geoff Bennett:
welcome to the “News Hour.”
President Joe Biden made his first public comments today since Donald Trump’s victory over his vice president, Kamala Harris, in the presidential election.
Amna Nawaz:
Several Cabinet secretaries and staff gathered in the Rose Garden as Biden praised Harris’ campaign and sent an optimistic message about the accomplishments of their administration.
Joe Biden, President of the United States: I know it’s a difficult time. You’re hurting. I hear you and I see you.
But don’t forget, don’t forget all that we accomplished. It’s been an historic presidency.
Much of the work we have done is already being felt by the American people. But the vast majority of it will not be felt — will be felt over the next 10 years. We’re going to see over a trillion dollars worth of infrastructure work done, changing people’s lives in rural communities and communities that are in real difficulty.
Amna Nawaz:
Biden went on to promise a peaceful transfer of power to Trump’s new administration.
Following all this is our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez.
Laura, so what was the president’s overall message here? What stood out to you?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Amna, President Biden first ran for the presidency in the late ’80s. And he wanted to serve more than one term. But despite that, he’s only served one.
So with this speech today, it was really about defining his legacy and what he believes will survive a second Trump administration. The president felt that it was important to speak to Americans who supported him, who supported Vice President Harris and their vision for the country.
Joe Biden:
We have 74 days to finish the term, our term. Let’s make every day count. That’s the responsibility we have to the American people.
Look, folks, you all know it in your lives. Setbacks are unavoidable. But giving up is unforgivable.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Surging aid to Ukraine is one of those things that President Biden wants to accomplish with the time that he has left.
I was speaking to a White House source today, Amna, who said that with this speech the president also wanted to reassure people that a lot of what he got done, including that infrastructure bill, that he believes will be hard for Donald Trump to undo because of the popularity of it and because of the fact that those projects are mostly out the door.
Another thing that stood out was that the president talked about laying to rest questions around election integrity. He called the election system fair, transparent, and the White House source that I spoke to said that the president felt it was important to hammer that point because President Biden believes that it’s a president’s role to instill trust in the process of the election.
Amna Nawaz:
He also briefly mentioned Vice President Harris. What did he have to say about her and also this idea I know you have been reporting on that many Democrats hold him at least partly responsible for her loss?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
President Biden praised the vice president. He called her a partner, a public servant, said that she gave — quote — “her whole heart” to the effort and that she and her campaign should be proud of what they did.
But to your question, Amna, yes, in short, a lot of the Democrats that I talked to believe that the president bears responsibility and that he had talked about being a bridge president, but his decision to run for reelection, ultimately, they think harm to the party.
One Democratic lawmaker I spoke to today said Democrats also have to talk about their role and the fact that Democrats and other leaders in the party should have maybe said something to President Biden earlier, trying to push him out potentially to make way for a new candidate. Those close to Biden defend his choices ultimately and say that he was the only Democrat so far to have beaten Donald Trump.
Amna Nawaz:
So it’s been less than two days since the election was called. As you speak to your Democratic sources, how are they processing the results?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
The biggest theme — there’s a lot of factors that Democrats say were at play, but the biggest thing, Amna, is they say that Vice President Harris was tied to an unpopular incumbent.
They say that Biden’s incumbency was what ultimately hurt her. As one Harris ally put it, Joe Biden running for reelection is reason one, two, three of why she lost, also that Republicans successfully painted Democrats as a party of elites disconnected from working class, which is striking considering that President Biden has long championed himself as the most pro-union president and often talks about the working and middle class.
But as one Democratic Latino poster told me, Latino voters felt as though President Biden was slow to respond to inflation and that ultimately was dismissive of the financial pain that they were feeling, Amna.
Amna Nawaz:
That’s our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez.
Laura, thank you.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Thank you.