While I travel the Country, Joe sleeps in his basement, telling the Fake News Media to “get lost”. If you’re a reporter covering Sleepy Joe, you have basically gone into retirement!
Biden: “I’m not going to make any news today. I’m not going to talk about anything other than 9/11. We took all our advertising down. It’s a solemn day. That’s how we’re going to keep it, OK? You can determine whether I make news but I’m not going to be holding any press confs.”
*COHEN SAYS HE VIOLATED CAMPAIGN LAW AT DIRECTION OF CANDIDATE
*COHEN DOESN'T NAME CANDIDATE WHO DIRECTED CAMPAIGN VIOLATION
hint: it's
@realDonaldTrump
President-elect Biden has no public events on his schedule tomorrow. It's the anniversary of the 1972 traffic accident that killed his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi.
Joe Biden has left his house for the first time in two months for a Memorial Day visit to the Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park and lay a wreath.
BREAKING: European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Canada, U.S. announce they will disconnect certain Russian banks from Swift and will take restrictive measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves to undermine sanctions.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that "100% of my focus is on stopping this new administration." Response from
@presssec
: "I guess the contrast for people is 100% of our focus is on delivering relief to the American people and getting the pandemic under control."
Biden: “If every investment banker in New York went on strike, nothing would much change in America. If every plumber decided to stop working, every electrician, the country comes to a halt. I mean, literally, not figuratively, literally, it comes to a damn halt."
Biden will have a virtual roundtable today at 1 p.m. with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, his campaign says. Usually it would be the president convening such key mayors.
Pfizer CEO Bourla says the company has found “a great ally in the Biden administration.” He says “from hour one of his presidency and to be honest well before the elections, President Biden has demonstrated an understanding of the urgency" of the moment and "deep compassion.”
Biden says that if Amy Coney Barrett were to be part of a Supreme Court majority overturning Roe v. Wade, his response would be "to pass legislation making Roe the law of the land."
President Biden will announce tonight he's directing states to make vaccines available to all adults by May 1. There will also be a federal website by then. His goal is to bring the country “closer to normal” by July 4. Per administration officials.
.
@AOC
to
@Maddow
: "Those women and children trying to come here with nothing but the shirts on their back to create an opportunity and provide for this nation are acting more in an American tradition than this president is right now."
Nielsen's next stop will be carefully watched. If any major companies hire her, pay her to speak, etc., expect to see major outcry from immigration and civil rights groups and beyond:
The Biden campaign is holding a press call this morning with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Khizr Khan, and Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA) “in reaction to the appalling revelations about Donald Trump and veterans” in
@JeffreyGoldberg
’s
@TheAtlantic
story.
NEWS: Biden will begin traveling to battlegrounds after Labor Day. He lists Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona and Pennsylvania as among the states on his itinerary. He said he will “get out safely without jeopardizing peoples’ health.”
Man interrupts Biden to ask for his advice on getting back his wife who left him. Biden says he’ll talk to him after his speech and the guy says he wants an answer now since he’s “live” — so clearly some kind of stunt. “I’m beginning to see why your wife left you. Come on, man.”
The Biden White House just withdrew more than 30 nominations that had been sent to the Senate in early January by President Trump, including that of Judy Shelton to be a member of the Fed board.
Unlike President Trump, who has actively avoided being photographed in a mask, VP Biden (and Dr. Biden) wore a mask the whole time he was in public today.
Christian Cooper endorses Biden, saying that when Amy Cooper confronted him in Central Park "she was just taking her cue from the highest office in the land." He's supporting Biden because "the president of the United States sets the tone."
Biden says that 7 Senate Republicans, “mostly senior,” have called him tonight. He spoke to “one of the most senior members” who expressed a willingness to work on China and infrastructure. It’s going to take 6-8 months but GOP will work w him, “you’re going to be surprised.”
As a mob raided the Capitol, a Capitol Police officer gave them directions to Chuck Schumer's office, per this Times report: "But they could not find Mr. Schumer’s office. He said they asked a Capitol Police officer, who tried to direct them."
Biden is again asked why voters don’t deserve to know his views on court packing. He responds: “The only court packing going on right now is going on with Republicans packing the court right now ... I’m going to stay focused on it so we don’t take our eyes off the ball here."
For the first time, Sanders leads Biden in a national Quinnipiac poll. Previous poll was conducted right before Iowa and released Jan. 28.
Sanders 25% (+4)
Biden 17% (-9)
Bloomberg 15% (+7)
Warren 14% (-1)
Buttigieg 10% (+4)
Klobuchar 4% (-3)
I don’t understand the analysis stories calling today’s hearing boring. Most of the information was already known from the closed-door hearings. Hearings are virtually never “fun” or “exciting.” And it’s a pretty unsophisticated take from anyone who does Washington for a living.
"With Joe and Kamala at the helm, you're not going to have to think about the crazy things they say every day. You're not going to have to argue every day. It won't be so exhausting," Obama says.
Obama: "Unlike some I actually try to state facts. I believe in facts. I believe in a fact based reality and a fact based politics. I don't believe in just making stuff up."
I understand the whole more recognizable name thing, but it's not like Twitter has a 140-character limit anymore. She has a name. It's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Why does this happen with women so much more often than with men??)
NEWS: Biden says he’s now receiving intelligence briefings as the Democratic presidential nominee. And he warns about Russian, Chinese and other foreign interference in the 2020 election.
Rachel
@maddow
says she's interviewing Anthony Fauci on her show tomorrow night. "Perhaps coincidentally there's been a change in administration and now our requests to interview Dr. Fauci have been approved," she says.
Biden on NYT story on Russia's efforts to try to get U.S. troops in Afghanistan assassinated: If the report is accurate, it's "horrifying revelation" and reminder that "there is no bottom to the depth of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin's depravity." Trump did "worse than nothing."
NEWS: The Biden White House will have an ASL interpreter for the press briefing today and will have one moving forward. It will be accessible via and WH social accounts
The POTUS account on FB just posted a photo of him and VP Harris. "A new Administration means a new lunch partner. My first weekly lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris is in the books!" Biden always valued his weekly lunches with Obama.
Sean Lawler, Trump’s chief of protocol, has quit just ahead of his trip to Japan and Korea. His departure comes as he faced a possible investigation into accusations of carrying a whip around the office and otherwise intimidating staff.
Flight records obtained by Bloomberg detail the 45 hours and 43 minutes that Trump spent in Moscow in 2013, though the president told Comey he didn't spend the night there.
Biden campaign’s
@AndrewBatesNC
on reports that Trump does not intend to concede the race: “As we said on July 19th, the American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.”
After the president’s motorcade stopped near the Watergate, the White House says “The President is visiting his close friend, Senator Bob Dole.” Dole, 97, announced this week that he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon: "Joe Biden is on track to win this election and he will be the next president of the United States ... We believe we are on a clear path to victory by this afternoon."
President Biden is asked if he supports using reconciliation to pass covid relief. “I support passing covid relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the covid relief has to pass. No ifs, ands or buts,” he says.
Joe Biden arrives at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church for his first mass as president-elect. He was joined by daughter Ashley and grandson Hunter, Beau’s son.
NEW: Biden campaign rolls out a Public Health Advisory Committee “to provide science-based, expert advice regarding steps the campaign should take to minimize health risks for the candidate, staff, and supporters.” Here are its members:
"You'll be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or that Navy SEALs didn't actually kill Bin Laden. The president of the U.S. retweeted that," Obama says. "What? I mean, what?"
Sen. Warren: "For years, the same hedge funds, private equity firms, and wealthy investors dismayed by the GameStop trades have treated the stock market like their own personal casino while everyone else pays the price." Regulators need "to wake up and do their jobs" on industry.
"Biden does not believe that police should be defunded. He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain. Biden supports the urgent need for reform..."
SCOOP: The Biden team has just launched
@PresElectBiden
to build followers for Inauguration Day when they’ll get the
@potus
handle. But Biden’s aides complain they’re not getting same treatment as Trump, who got all of Obama’s
@potus
and
@whitehouse
followers.
Endorsements of the 2020 Democratic field so far:
Biden
Kamala Harris, Michael Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Deval Patrick, John Delaney, Tim Ryan, Eric Swalwell
Sanders
Bill de Blasio, Marianne Williamson
The president and first lady are visiting the Capitol to pay tribute to late Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick, who is lying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
President Biden says that tomorrow, the 58th day of his administration, the U.S. will meet the goal he set of 100 million vaccine shots during the first 100 days of his administration.