News Update

The President was pressed on a range of issues that have bubbled up two months into his presidency

He came prepared with a binder of talking points and a goal of staying on message, though at times he meandered and at moments grew defensive.
The President broke new ground on his views of the Senate filibuster, said he expected to run again in 2024 and downplayed the prospect of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan by the looming deadline.
At a broader level, however, he provided the American people their first extended look at how their president operates, his grasp of his own power and his views toward the future.

Filibuster reform and bipartisanship

Biden calls state GOP voting restrictions efforts 'sick' and 'un-American'Biden calls state GOP voting restrictions efforts 'sick' and 'un-American'
It took three questions, but Biden acknowledged Thursday he was ready to look at reforming the Senate filibuster in a major way — including going beyond just reverting to the so-called “standing filibuster.”
“We’re going to have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” he concluded after a lengthy answer about his promises to the American people.
It was a step further than Biden has been willing to go in the past, and reflects the growing recognition that most items on the President’s list of priorities — gun control, immigration, climate change — have little chance of securing passage in an evenly split Senate.
Biden said he was open to making bigger changes to the Senate rule on issues he called “elemental” to democracy.
“If we have to, if there’s complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we’ll have to go beyond what I’m talking about,” he said.
Later, pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if he believed with former President Barack Obama that the filibuster is a remnant of Jim Crow, he said he did.
Biden’s had previously sought to strike a delicate balance in weighing in on items like the filibuster, wary of alienating Republicans or coming off as breaking with tradition.
But he seemed less concerned with those matters on Thursday, declaring himself working for the American people and not some vague idea of bipartisanship. Asked about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who griped on Wednesday he’d only spoken to Biden once since taking office, he shrugged: “I would expect him to say exactly what he said.”
Pressed later about his reelection plans, he openly wondered whether the Republican Party would even exist in three-and-a-half years.
At his back is polling showing many Republicans supportive of his Covid-19 relief bill, which no Republicans in Congress supported. Biden acknowledged that fact, and said it mattered more to him that Republicans in the country backed his agenda than Republicans in the Capitol.
“I’ve not been able to unite the Congress but I’ve been able to unite the country, based on the polling data,” he said.

Temperament

Biden says he agrees with Obama that filibuster is 'a relic of the Jim Crow era'Biden says he agrees with Obama that filibuster is 'a relic of the Jim Crow era'
People who have worked alongside Biden often note he has a temper that sometimes flares when he’s challenged. And that was the case on Thursday, asking one reporter “that’s a serious question?” when pressed on conditions at border facilities and chafing at questions about his political future.
Biden eventually did say he planned to run for reelection in 2024 — something he hadn’t said before — but acknowledged that events may intervene.
“I’m a great respecter of fate,” he said. “I would fully expect that to be the case.”
The question about his political plans put Biden’s age in sharper focus than it has been so far in his presidency, and at moments during his news conference it was clear the 78-year-old Biden was relying on scripted talking points.
At other moments he trailed off, abruptly ending answers when he seemed to be meandering.
“Am I giving you too long an answer?” he asked several minutes into an answer on immigration. “Maybe I should stop there.”
Still, Biden demonstrated a firm grasp on the wide array of issues confronting his presidency and seemed impassioned by topics ranging from voting rights to infrastructure.
And he did grow defensive, particularly when pressed on his administration’s record in stemming the surge of migrants on the southern border.
His news conference was not marked by open hostility in the same way President Donald Trump’s were, and flashing anger at reporters isn’t new for Biden; on the campaign trail he lashed out when questioned about his family. His advisers do not believe occasional flashes of anger are necessary a bad thing for Biden.

Covid-19 pandemic

Biden pressed over crisis at the southern border in his first White House news conferenceBiden pressed over crisis at the southern border in his first White House news conference
Biden has relentlessly focused on combating the coronavirus pandemic since taking office. One of the reasons a news conference was put off so long, according to White House officials, was that Biden’s time was overwhelmingly preoccupied by the response.
Yet the news conference came at a moment when other issues were swirling. Biden entered the event hoping to turn attention back to his Covid-19 response by naming a new goal on vaccinations — 200 million in his first 100 days. And later he sought to frame his entire early presidency around the pandemic response.
“When I took office I decided that it was a fairly basic, simple proposition. I got elected to solve problems,” he said.
It turned out his desire to insert his pandemic response back into the conversation was warranted; it did not arise in any of the questions posed by reporters.
Later, it was evident that Biden’s next priority — a package on infrastructure — is set to dominate his forthcoming legislative agenda. He was asked a question about gun control in the wake of two mass shootings that killed 18 people over the past week.
But he quickly acknowledged that wasn’t where he is headed in Congress.
“Successful presidents, better than me, have been successful in large part because they’ve know how to time what they’re doing,” he said, launching in a lengthy answer that went from improving drinking water to removing asbestos to making buildings more efficient.

Foreign policy

Biden says he 'can't picture' US troops being in Afghanistan next yearBiden says he 'can't picture' US troops being in Afghanistan next year
For a president whose “first love” is foreign policy, according to aides, the issue has not been central to the early part of his presidency.
That seems due to change in the coming weeks as he faces decisions on withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, punishing Russia for its role in a massive cyber attack, responding to provocations from North Korea and developing a strategy to deal with an emboldened China.
On Thursday, Biden provided some new insights into how he views his role on the global stage. He suggested a renewed focus on improving relationships with American allies after a tumultuous four years under Trump.
But he also acknowledged certain areas where he finds himself confronting the very same issues as his predecessor without a new approach.
He acknowledged that it would be “hard” to meet a May 1 deadline for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan, but said he could not picture troops there next year.
He said Wednesday’s ballistic missile tests from North Korea violated UN Security Council resolutions, and vowed a response if the situation escalates, but said — like Trump — he was willing to give diplomacy a chance if conditioned “on the end result of denuclearization.”
And though he declined to answer specific questions about Trump-era tariffs on China, saying they “only touch a smidgen of what the relationship with China really is about,” his administration has left them in place for now, believing they provide leverage for future negotiations.
Asked if North Korea was still the top foreign policy issue he was currently facing — something Obama warned Trump would be the case when he entered office in 2016 — Biden said it was.
“Yes,” he said, without elaborating.
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