In a brief address to the American People, President-Elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris complained about the Trump Administrations' obstruction in the transition process and warned the American People that it will take time to undo the damage wrought by Trumpism the last four years.
The President-Elect started his address saluting the efforts of law enforcement who acted fast and saved lives before a suicide bomber unleashed an explosive in an RV in Nashville on Christmas Day. Mr. Biden said:
"I want to thank the police officers who worked quickly to evacuate the area before the explosion occurred, and all the firefighters and first responders who jumped into action early on Christmas morning.
Their bravery and cool-headedness likely saved lives and prevented a worse outcome — and we are all grateful for that.
And I know the hearts of all Americans are with the people of Nashville as they rebuild and recover from this traumatic event."
It should be noted that Mr. Trump has not made any personal public comments on what has happened in Nashville. Apparently, he has not even contacted the Nashville Mayor. Is playing golf that much more important. He can personally tweet on his wife not appearing on a fashion magazine cover but no concern for the people of Nashville.
Mr. Biden then pivoted to the obstruction his transition team is encountering with Trump Administration team members, especially those at the Defense Department.
The President-Elect further described the potential difficulties his Administration would deal with on January 20, 2021, warning that:
"And the truth is: many of the agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage.
They’ve been hollowed out.
In personnel. In capacity. In morale.
In policy processes that have atrophied or been sidelined.
In the disrepair of our alliances.
In our absence from key institutions that matter to the welfare of the American people.
In a general disengagement from the world.
And all of it makes it harder for our government to protect the American people and to defend our vital interests in a world where threats are constantly evolving and our adversaries are constantly adapting."
Pledging that he and Vice President-Elect Harris would "rebuild the full set of our instruments of foreign policy and national security," Mr. Biden said that they would focus on reconstructing American diplomacy and leadership in the following areas:
- Climate Change.
- Strengthening health care systems while combatting COVID 19.
- Forging coalitions to confront China.
- Modernizing defense priorities like more attention to better-combatting cyberwarfare like what Russia did when they hacked into several government systems. Mr. Trump has not taken this matter seriously either.
- Undoing the chaos and poor choices Trump and his minions have done on immigration at the Southern Border.
The President-Elect emphasized, especially on the Southern Border issue, that it will take time to undo what Donald Trump and his people had four years to damage, saying:
"We were briefed on the steps needed to clean up the humanitarian disaster that the Trump Administration has systematically created on our southern border.
We will institute a humane and orderly response.
That means rebuilding the capacity we need to safely and quickly process asylum seekers without creating a near-term crisis in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
These are hard issues.
And the current administration has made them much harder by working to erode our capacity.
It’s going to take time to rebuild it.
And we’re going to work purposefully and diligently to responsibly roll back Trump’s restrictions starting on day one.
But it’s not as simple as throwing a switch to turn everything back on — especially amid a pandemic.
We will have to have a process to ensure everyone’s health and safety, including the safety of asylum seekers hoping for a new start in the United States free from violence and persecution.
Of course, an essential part of this will be managing the safe, equitable, and efficient distribution of vaccines to as many Americans as possible — as quickly as possible."
Mr. Biden then complimented the career public servants working the departments in the Executive Branch and expressed his pleasure that he will be working with them again.
He closed by stating:
"We’ve overcome incredible challenges as a nation. And we will do so again.
We’ll do it by coming together.
By uniting after a year of pain and loss to heal, to rebuild, and to reclaim America’s place in the world.
This is the work that lies ahead of us, and I know we are up to the task.
We will champion liberty and democracy once more.
We will reclaim our credibility to lead the free world.
And we will, once again, lead not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
May God bless you all.
May God protect our troops."
Walking away, the President-Elect, in response to a reporter's question, said he supports the House Resolution to increase the direct payment to Americans in the stimulus bill from $600 to $2000.
It is sad that the only person acting like the President is the person that does not have the job yet.
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