Biden Calls Trump's Transition Blockade An 'Embarrassment': Blog

WASHINGTON, DC — In his strongest language since he was named the unofficial winner of the 2020 presidential election, President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that “more people may die” because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to grant his transition team access to high-level briefings on the coronavirus pandemic and matters of national security.

Biden made his remarks during a news conference on his “build back better” plan, an ambitious recovery blueprint to spend trillions of dollars to reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing, expand health care coverage and combat climate change, among other priorities. “I don’t mean to be falsely optimistic,” he said, but “I think we can do this.”

Biden’s win became more decisive Monday as ballot tabulation continued, widening by more than 5.5 million popular votes, according to unofficial election results. The Associated Press and other major news organizations have projected the winners in all 50 states, giving Biden a 306-232 edge in the Electoral College.

An ongoing recount in Georgia isn’t expected to change that. In 2016, states delivered Trump 306 electoral votes, which he called a “landslide” victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Two electors ended up defecting, giving Trump a final count of 304 electoral votes four years ago.

Having failed to persuade the majority of American voters, the Trump campaign is fighting in the courts for a second term. Whether liberal or conservative or serving in state or federal courts, judges have overwhelmingly called on Trump to provide evidence of malfeasance and have quickly jettisoned lawsuits they consider baseless.

It appeared Sunday that Trump had accepted the election results, but he quickly backtracked, firing off a flurry of tweets Monday that repeated unsubstantiated claims that the balloting was “rigged” and Democrats had “stolen” the election from him. That’s despite the fact that Republicans were elected on the same ballot in numbers that eclipsed Democrats’ hopes for a “blue wave” on Election Day.

Stonewalling by the Trump administration on other aspects of the transition — including granting the incoming administration access to high-level national security briefings — is “more embarrassing for the country than debilitating for my ability to get started,” Biden said at the news conference in Wilmington, Delaware.

An exception, though, is his administration’s ability to coordinate its coronavirus response with the current administration, particularly as it relates to the distribution of promising vaccines.

“If we have to wait until Jan. 20 to start planning, it puts us behind,” Biden said.

COVID-19 virus cases are skyrocketing in most states with an average of 150,265 new case a day over the past two weeks, an increase of 81 percent from the average two weeks earlier, according to a database maintained by The New York Times.

More than 11.2 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus, and more than 247,000 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Two of Biden’s top coronavirus advisers, Dr. Vivek Murthy and Dr. Atul Gawande, downplayed the need for a nationwide lockdown on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday.

“We are not in support of a nationwide lockdown,” Gawande said. “There simply isn't a scenario [for nationwide restrictions], because we can get this under control.”

Instead, he said, “You can have targeted measures building on mask-wearing to include widespread testing, to include dialing up and down capacity restrictions; and those measures need to happen in a more localized basis.”

In New York City, for example, tighter restrictions are imposed on gatherings in certain areas, while other areas of the city have fewer rules.

Murthy said a lockdown of businesses and schools is a “measure of last resort,” on Fox News Sunday.

At the news conference, Biden also said he’s eager to work with Republicans, though some have been reluctant to have conversation with him while Trump continues to cast doubt about the integrity of the election — which the Department of Homeland Security declared the “most secure” in U.S. history and lacking in evidence that “any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.”

“I will work with you,” Biden said, referring to Republicans. “I understand a lot of your reluctance because of the way the president operates. I’ve been in contact with and I will be in contact with more of them as we move along. And if it has to wait until Jan. 20 to actually become operational, that’s a shame, but maybe that’s the only way to get it done.”

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris held virtual meetings Monday with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and others on their “build back better” plan, which comes at a particularly tricky time for economic policy.

The U.S. economy has recovered from the business shutdowns more quickly than most economists expected, with people who still have jobs stepping up their spending on cars, electronics and home renovations. The recovery is complicated by the fact that much of the rebound was fueled by $2 trillion in stimulus spending.

Unemployment has for the most part returned to manageable levels, standing at 6.9 percent nationally.

Read more about the 2020 presidential election and Biden transition:

Biden: “Build Back Better”

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that reining in the coronavirus pandemic is the first step to economic recovery. “Once we shut down the virus and deliver economic relief to workers and businesses, then we can start to build back better than before,” Biden said in remarks from Wilmington, Delaware. Read more on White House Patch.

Has Trump Changed The Presidency?

You can adore President Donald Trump or despise him. But from late-night tweet storms to oft-repeated untruths to provocative statements about everything from the kneeling of pro football players to canned beans to buying Greenland, there's one thing it has been almost impossible to do with the president of the United States these past four years: ignore him. Read more on White House Patch.

MAGA March Brings Conflict

Supporters of President Donald Trump rallied in Washington on Saturday behind his spurious claim of a stolen election and swarmed his motorcade in adulation when he detoured for a drive-by on his way out of town. Hours later, after night fell in the nation's capital, demonstrators favoring Trump clashed in the streets with counterprotesters, with videos on social media showing fistfights, projectiles and clubs. Police arrested at least 20 people on a variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, officials said. One stabbing was reported, two police officers were injured, and several firearms were also recovered by police. Read more on Washington, D.C., Patch.

Courts Judge Trump Harshly

The re-election campaign of President Donald Trump, having failed to persuade the majority of American voters, is now making its case to the American courts. The campaign and its allies aren’t doing much better in the latter quest than they did in the former. Close to half of the two dozen or so cases brought since Election Day in key swing states have already been withdrawn or tossed by judges, with many of the rest seemingly destined for a similar fate. Read more on White House Patch.

Congress: Hard Opening

Before President-elect Joe Biden can fulfill a campaign promise to “restore the soul of America,” he will have to fix a broken, divided Congress ground down by partisanship, name-calling and the refusal by President Donald Trump and some Republicans to acknowledge his win. Read more on White House Patch.