Daniel Dale Profile picture
22 Dec, 15 tweets, 3 min read
Biden says he usually has 20-25 people at Christmas dinner, but not this year. He says, "We all have to care enough for each other that we have to stay apart, just a little bit longer. I know it's hard." He warns "experts say things are going to get worse before they get better."
Biden says again that the Covid relief deal is good news, but repeats it's just a "first step" and "down payment." He says he'll put forward a plan to Congress "early next year," seeking more funds for testing, vaccine distribution, struggling people, local police, fire, nurses.
Biden: "Here is the simple truth. Our darkest days in the battle against Covid are ahead of us, not behind us. So we need to prepare ourselves. To steel our spines. As frustrating as it is to hear, it's gonna take patience, persistence, and determination to beat this virus."
Biden pivots to the cyberattack. He blames the Trump administration for, he says, failing to prioritize cybersecurity, then criticizes Trump's "irrational downplaying of the seriousness of this attack." He adds, "Enough's enough."
Biden says we can't let the cyberattack go unanswered. He notes that Pompeo and Barr have indicated Russia is responsible and calls for an "official attribution" from the administration. He says he'll take it seriously even if Trump refuses.
After a reporter mentioned that Trump said the cyberattack situation is under control, Biden says, "I see no evidence that it's under control. I've seen none, heard of none. The Defense Department won't even brief us on many things."
Biden on the cyberattack: "When I learn the extent of the damage and in fact who is formally responsible, they can be assured that we will respond. And probably respond in kind. There's many options, which I will not discuss now."
Biden says the Georgia elections aren't the reason he still hasn't made some appointments. He says they'll all be announced either just before or just after.
Biden says his son hasn't come up in any of his discussions with potential AGs. He says, "The Attorney General of the United States of America is not the president's lawyer. I will appoint someone who I expect to enforce the law...not guided by me."
Asked if the US should impose a travel ban on flights coming from the UK, Biden says, "As you know, there already is one. Unrelated to finding that new strain." ?
Biden says that for people who are struggling, the additional unemployment benefits in this new deal were "necessary" but "simply not sufficient." He says the public won't stand for a refusal to pass additional help when he's president.
Biden says his general ask to Congress is: 1) making sure there's enough money to get the vaccine to everyone; 2) making sure the Covid unemployed have enough to live, aren't getting evicted; 3) for small biz: all needed PPE + direct aid; 4) economic development + infrastructure.
Asked what's taking him so long to pick an attorney general, Biden says he's just looking for the best person to instill the most confidence in DOJ professionals, and there is isn't an "obvious choice" in his mind on this one.
Asked if he'd consider filing for re-election quickly to show he's not going to be a lame duck, Biden says, "I'm not gonna be a lame duck. Just watch me. Just watch me."
Re timeline for rolling back Trump immigration policy, Biden says he needs time to make sure "we make it better, not worse" on asylum, avoid rush of 2 million people to the border. Says "probably the next 6 months," not day 1, to make needed moves. Asks advocates to "trust me."

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Daniel Dale

Daniel Dale Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ddale8

4 Nov
Trump begins by saying, falsely, that "a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise" his supporters. Democrats are simply trying to get all the votes counted.
Trump then says that "we were winning everything, and all of a sudden, it was just called off." Would try to fact check this but I don't even know what it means.
Trump says "it's also clear that we have won Georgia," though that is not clear from the publicly available data.
Read 6 tweets
3 Nov
Trump is now on Fox & Friends, sounding more subdued and talking slower than usual. (He was up late doing rallies.) He repeats his usual false claim about how 2.2 million pandemic deaths were initially expected, then touts his pandemic response in the familiar manner.
"I'm doing a big series of phone calls" today to "very loyal" and "very important" people. (He suggests he might mean media interviews but doesn't specify.)
"No one doubts your work ethic," Kilmeade tells Trump, citing the fact that he has done 14 campaign rallies over the last three days.
Read 14 tweets
16 Oct
Biden made some false or misleading claims tonight, though far fewer than Trump. An early list:

He said Trump didn't do "anything" when the initial $600 per week unemployment boost expired. In August, Trump used $44 billion in FEMA money to send $300 per week to the jobless.
When Stephanopoulos said Biden's website calls the Green New Deal a "crucial framework," Biden said, "My deal is a crucial framework, but not the New Green Deal." Biden's website does call the GND a crucial framework, though he has his own plan. joebiden.com/climate-plan/#
Biden falsely said there are now more troops in Afghanistan than there were when Biden left office. Trump did do an early-term troop surge, but he's since done a reduction; O'Brien says the current number is now under 5,000, thousands lower than in late 2016.
Read 5 tweets
8 Oct
This manufacturing jobs section is a mess on both sides.

1) Harris said the US lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs because of the China trade war. But the US gained manufacturing jobs under Trump, 483,000, before the pandemic; it's now a loss of 164,000, but pandemic-related.
2) Pence then said Obama lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. That's highly misleading. The losses occurred during the recession he inherited; starting in March 2010, 14 months into his tenure, the number of manufacturing jobs rose pretty steadily. fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MANEMP
3) Pence, like Trump, wrongly suggested Obama said manufacturing jobs were dead or couldn't be created. Obama said some were gone forever, but he also boasted about how many were being created during his presidency.
Read 5 tweets
17 Sep
Trump is reading a speech at the National Archives Museum criticizing the left's approach to the study of history, complaining of the New York Times' 1619 Project, critical race theory, and "propaganda tracts like those of Howard Zinn."
Trump says it is "a form of child abuse, in the truest sense of those words," to teach children critical race theory.
Trump announces he will be signing an executive order to establish a "national commission to promote patriotic education." He says "it will be called the 1776 Commission," a nod to criticism of the 1619 Project.
Read 5 tweets
11 Sep
Oh man. Trump: "As the British government advised the British people in the face of World War II, keep calm and carry on. That's what I did."

Churchill was famously blunt with the British people about how bad things could get.
Trump: "When Hitler was bombing London, Churchill, great leader, would oftentimes go to a roof in London and speak. And he always spoke with calmness. He said, 'We have to show calmness.'"

I am currently reading the Larson book and I can tell you this is very bad Trump History.
Churchill would sometimes go up on roofs and other high perches to watch the Blitz bombings. He did not broadcast from the roofs, clearly - he'd sneak up there in the dark.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!