White House praises ‘norms’ and ‘institutions’ Trump has long warned he would destroy

ANALYSIS – President Joe Biden and top White House aides have backed away from their dire warnings about fascism, citing the same “norms” and “institutions” they warned would be destroyed if Donald Trump returns to power.

Sitting in beige chairs in the Oval Office on Wednesday — with a fire burning behind them and portraits of former Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln hanging above their heads — Biden shook Trump’s hand and coldly shook Trump’s hand. “Welcome,” he said with a simple expression. . Welcome back.”

His top spokesman later told reporters that Biden was “looking forward to the meeting,” which he described as “very cordial, very courteous and meaningful” despite Trump’s dire warnings about his new term. The same spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, even said that Biden would “obviously always keep that line of communication open to the president-elect.”

This was all such a surreal thing when viewed through the lens of the last four years.

The outgoing commander in chief gave several high-profile speeches during his presidency and used extensive campaign rhetoric to warn voters about Trump’s second term. Perhaps most memorably, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 1, 2022, Biden bluntly stated: “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans represent extremism. It threatens the foundations of our republic.”

Let’s fast forward about two years; When it came to a big-dollar fundraiser in Los Angeles in July, shortly before he wrapped up his bid for a second term, Biden declared that “institutions matter” and added Trump’s role in fueling the mob that attacked the Capitol. On January 6, 2021: “What he did on January 6th and now he’s literally saying it’s going to be a bloodbath if he doesn’t win.”

“This is outrageous; what he’s talking about is outrageous,” the president added in July. “The idea that he was actually threatening revenge. This is the United States of America. Did you ever think you’d hear something like this?”

Despite Biden’s remarks and those of other Democrats, the Biden White House’s dramatic shift in tone began last Thursday when the president addressed the country in the Rose Garden about the election results. “The American experiment continues,” he said. “We will be fine.

“Setbacks are inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. … Remember, defeat does not mean that we are defeated. We lost this war,” Biden said. “The America of your dreams calls you to rise again. “This is the story of America for over 240 years and it continues.”

The shift in message was jarring, as Biden, his top aides and leading Democrats in Congress had for years spoken of Trump’s return to power as dire — almost disastrous. It continued Tuesday in the White House briefing room, with reporters asking Jean-Pierre about Trump’s visit to the Oval Office at the president’s invitation.

“He wants to show the American people that the system works,” he said. “Trusting the institution, trusting that the norms are important here, trusting that through leadership it shows what a transition, a peaceful transition looks like… (to) show what a smooth transition looks like. And that’s the message.”

This is also a drastic shift in the message from Democrats’ collective campaign trail that Trump is dismantling these “norms” and neutering these federal “institutions” or using them for his own personal revenge.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate who lost to Trump last week, responded, “Yes, I do,” when asked whether she believed Trump was a “fascist” during a town hall hosted by CNN on October 23. Later, at the same prime time event, he urged voters to prioritize “not having a US president who admires dictators and is a fascist.”

‘Campaign in poetry’

During a speech honoring D-Day veterans in Normandy, France, on June 7, Biden described the United States and the world as being in a struggle between two powers. dictators and freedom. He never said Trump’s name, but he didn’t need to. His message and intention were as clear as the French sky that day.

In an appeal to American voters that day, Biden urged them to combat “the most natural instinct to walk away.” Instead, he said, Americans should resist those who intend to “impose their will on others in order to seize power.”

“American democracy demands the hardest of things: to believe that we are part of something bigger than ourselves,” he said. “So democracy begins in each of us.”

The White House declined to comment.

But former Florida GOP lawmaker David Jolly said, “Biden has earned the assumption that he is a defender of our democratic institutions.”

“He’s continued that in 2020, talking about this (election) cycle and showing his commitment to an orderly transition of power,” Jolly added. “I see not an inconsistency, but a remarkable consistency based on personal humility and constitutional respect.”

Ivan Zapien, a former DNC official and Senate staffer, pointed out something the late New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said.

“Cuomo summed it up best: ‘You campaign with poetry and you govern with prose,’” Zapien said in an email. “Now that the campaign is over, they are peacefully and gracefully transferring power and upholding the intuitions and norms they hold dear.”

Given the election results, Trump’s decisive Electoral College victory and sweep of the Rust Belt and Sun Belt battleground states, what choice does Biden have?

In Normandy in June, Biden said, “It is unthinkable to surrender to tyrants, to bow to dictators,” and added: “If we do that, we will be forgetting what happened here on these sacred shores. Make no mistake. “We will not bow down,” he said.

Voters “did not bow down” to Trump and his worldview and completed his vow to become a “dictator on day one.” The majority — 75.8 million and counting – adopted it at the ballot box.