Biden understands there is 'more work to be done' in 2024, says Karine Jean-Pierre
President Biden is both running the country and running for reelection, in a campaign that is expected to enter a much more public phase in the days ahead.
Among the challenges he faces are concerns about his age (81), low approval ratings (around 39%), a fracturing of the Democratic base over his support for Israel, voters' negative perceptions of the economy and growing pressure to do more to fix what his own administration has described as a broken immigration system.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden's record in an interview with NPR on Thursday.
She pointed to the administration's passage of historic efforts to invest in infrastructure, semiconductors, and climate, lower prescription drug prices and ban 'junk fees,' among others. Gas prices have dropped below $3 a gallon in more than half of states. She noted that consumer sentiment soared 14% in December — the largest one-month increase in over a decade — calling it a sign that Americans are starting to feel the positive impact of "Bidenomics."
However, polls suggest Biden isn't getting credit for the achievements the White House is citing. Jean-Pierre acknowledged there is "more work to be done" to address Americans' concerns — and said that's something Biden very much understands.
Biden vowed to "finish the job" in his State of the Union address last year. That means continuing to tackle high-priority issues — including advancing agenda items he believes should appeal to both Democrats and Republicans — while also safeguarding the strides the administration has already made, Jean-Pierre told Morning Edition's Leila Fadel.
"We want to continue to build on the successes that this president has had these past three years," she added.
Separately, campaign officials have said Biden is running "like the fate of our democracy depends on it." They are expecting a rematch with former President Donald Trump, who is facing four criminal indictments, including one over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Biden plans to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by delivering a speech about the stakes for freedom and democracy on Friday near Valley Forge, Pa., one of George Washington's Revolutionary War-era encampments. Next week he will visit Charleston, S.C., to give a speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church, the historically Black church that was the site of a white supremacist shooting in 2015.
She says House Republicans are obstructing Biden's agenda
While the Biden administration's track record may not be resonating with all voters, Jean-Pierre contended that Republicans aren't providing better solutions.
She said Republicans in Congress are focused on tax cuts for wealthy individuals and big corporations.
"There is a contrast there, what we're trying to do and what Republicans are trying to do," she added.
Jean-Pierre also rejected Republican criticism of Biden's handling of immigration, another key campaign issue amidst a sustained surge of migrants crossing the southern border and being bussed into northern cities.
She said Biden has made immigration a priority since the first day of his presidency (though Congress has not passed comprehensive legislation during his presidency) and believes bipartisan agreement is needed to address "the root and the cause and how to deal with what's happening at the border."
A bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating new border security legislation for weeks, after congressional Republicans said they would not approve Biden's request for aid to Israel and Ukraine without border security measures.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who led a congressional delegation of some 60 Republicans to the border in Texas on Wednesday, blamed the Biden administration for what he called a "catastrophe" and expressed doubts about the viability of a bipartisan compromise.
House Republicans also announced on Wednesday that they would formally resume impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border, which his department has dismissed as having "no valid basis."
The reality, Jean-Pierre said, is that House Republicans "continue to obstruct."
"Right now, instead of ... doing what we expect them to do and find a common ground — that's what the American people want them to do — instead, they're doing these political stunts," Jean-Pierre said.
The broadcast interview was produced by Lilly Quiroz and Ben Abrams, and edited by Jan Johnson.
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Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Biden campaign is preparing this weekend to move the 2024 campaign into a higher gear. Candidate Joe Biden will mark January 6 with a speech near Valley Forge, Pa., where the campaign says he'll reflect on the attack on the U.S. Capitol and a pervasive risk to democracy.
At the same time, the administration of President Joe Biden is laying out its priorities for 2024. While he runs for president, he's also still running the country. Here to talk about those priorities is White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Good morning, and happy new year.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Good morning, Leila. Thank you so much for having me, and happy new year to you, too.
FADEL: So it's the start of the year. It's the time when presidents focus on priorities in preparation for the State of the Union speech. So what are the president's priorities, particularly given that he's currently unable to push through the most basic function of government, which is funding?
JEAN-PIERRE: So really quickly, I do want to take a bit of a step back, and I'll be very quick here. If you look at the last three years, this president has been able to do more in the last three years than most presidents accomplish in two terms, right? If you think about him passing historic legislation on investing in our infrastructure, semiconductors, climate and lower prescription drug prices, all of those are so critical and important. So there's more work to be done. We want to continue to build on the successes that this president has had these past three years.
FADEL: Now, these accomplishments that you just listed - I mean, from infrastructure to climate to the handling of the economy - despite the accomplishments, polls suggest somehow it's not really resonating with the public in the ways that the administration had hoped. Why do you think that is?
JEAN-PIERRE: So I'll say this - coming out of 2023, we saw some really important data, and the data showed that Americans are indeed starting to feel the impact of what we call Bidenomics (ph). And so you saw consumer sentiment soar 14% last month - the largest one-month increase in over a decade. That matters. Inflation expectations fell. Americans are more optimistic about their personal finances. So look, there's more work to be done. That's something that the president understand. You know, and here's the thing. There is a contrast here that we have to make very clear. We think about what congressional Republicans have been doing. Their plan to - they don't have a plan to lower costs. They just don't. They continue to focus on what they call MAGAnomics (ph). And so there is a contrast there - what we're trying to do and what the Republicans are trying to do. But we have shown the work - it comes out of the - comes through the data, and you see that.
FADEL: Now, Republicans have been very critical of President Biden around immigration - right-wing Republicans, more specifically. That was the focus of the House speaker's trip to the border yesterday, where he blamed the president, called it a catastrophe, threatened to vote against government funding if the U.S. border with Mexico isn't, quote, "shut." I mean, is the president willing to make concessions on border policy to get that funding?
JEAN-PIERRE: So a couple of things there, Leila. So right now, for the past couple of weeks and months, there has been - there has truly been a bipartisan conversation on the Senate side with Republicans and Democrats, obviously, to talk about budget negotiations. And the president believes that we need to have a bipartisan agreement to get to the root and the cause and how to deal with what's happening at the border. He wants to see policy changes and funding.
But look, you asked me about Speaker Johnson, and I - you know, I have to address that. Last May, Speaker Johnson and the House Republicans voted to eliminate over 2,000 Border Patrol agents. And in mid-December, even as the president was negotiating, having conversation with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate for a bipartisan agreement, Speaker Johnson and the House Republicans - they went home, Leila. They went home. And so right now, instead of doing their job and joining the Biden administration and doing what we expect them to do and find a common ground - that's what the American people want them to do. Instead, they're doing these political stunts, right? There is a real request that the president has before Congress - this supplemental request - national security supplemental request - and the reason why the president put it forward is because he knows it's important to make sure that the border is taken care of. He understands that it is critical that we deal with our national security issues. But House Republicans continue to obstruct, and that's the reality that we're in right now.
FADEL: But, how do you get anything done, then? I mean, these are part - they're part of the political process. I mean, how do you get anything done?
JEAN-PIERRE: It's a really good question, and that's what we've been doing. That's why we've been having those conversations with Republicans and Democrats in the Senate - and it continued over the holidays - to find a real solution for the border, to find a bipartisan agreement. Let's not forget - and I know you've reported on this - this is - when you think about the immigration system, it has been broken for decades - for decades. And the president took this very seriously at the first day in his administration and putting forth an immigration comprehensive legislation to Congress, and that's how seriously this president has taken it.
FADEL: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, thank you for joining us.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, Leila. Appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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