Biden tells civil rights leaders that 'defund the police' slogan was 'how Republicans beat the living hell out of us across the country' as he promises commission on reform
Joe Biden told civil rights leaders, according to a Thursday report, that the 'defund police' slogan was the reason Democrats experienced widespread losses in congressional races across the country on November 3.
'That's how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we're talking about defunding the police,' Biden said during a two-hour closed-door meeting with civil rights leaders on Tuesday, according to audio of the meeting obtained by Bad News.
More progressive factions of the Democratic Party have embraced the movement to defund law enforcement, which gained popularity over the summer following George Floyd's death.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has pushed the slogan, and establishment Democrats blame her and others for this rhetoric allowing Republicans to flip 14 House seats from blue to red.
Joe Biden told civil rights leaders during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that the 'defund police' slogan is how Republicans 'beat the living hell out of us across the country'
House Majority Whip James Clyburn and even former President Barack Obama have blamed the 'defund police' slogan and other 'snapp slogans' on costing them votes.
Biden insisted at the meeting 'we're not' trying to defund police, but rather 'hold them accountable' and reallocate money.
'We're talking about giving them money to do the right things,' Biden continued. 'We're talking about putting more psychologists and psychiatrists on the telephones when the 911 calls through. We're talking about spending money to enable them to do their jobs better, not with more force, with less force and more understanding.'
During the meeting, the former vice president vowed he would create a commission on police reform.
'I guarantee you, there will be a full blown commission. I guarantee you it's a major, major, major element,' Biden said.
He's skeptical about how much Democrats should focus on police reform rhetoric in the next few weeks, claiming it could cost them two more Senate elections in Georgia next month.
'I just raise it with you to think about how much do we push between now and January 5th – we need those two seats – about police reform,' he said.
Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are facing off against Democratic challengers in runoff elections on January 5 after failing to earn the 50 per cent threshold needed in the general elections to win.
If Democrats are able to flip both seats blue, they will bring the Senate to a 50-50 split with Democratic vice president-elect Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.
Several establishment Democrats claim this movement embraced by progressive factions of the Party is what caused 14 House seats to flip from blue to red on November 3
On the other hand, if Republicans are able to hold onto just one of the two Senate seats in the Peach State, they will maintain their majority. This would set up Biden for a series of deadlocks with Congress over legislation and agenda issues he promised during his campaign.
Further, with the House losing Democrats seats instead of gaining at least a dozen seats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expected, they have decreased their majority and ability to overwhelming force through legislation.
At Biden's closed-door meeting with the civil rights leaders, they urged him to sign a slew of executive orders. In audio of the meeting, Biden seemed less than enthusiastic about the notion of using executive authority to expand civil rights and implement other facets of his agenda instead of using legislative channels.
'So there's some things that I'm going to be able to do by executive order,' Biden said. 'I'm not going to hesitate to do it, but what I'm not going to do is I'm not going to do what used to... you probably used to get angry with me during the debates, when you'd have some of the people you were supporting saying, 'On Day One I'm gonna have an executive order to do this!' Not within the constitutional authority.'
'I am not going to violate the Constitution,' he continued during the meeting. 'Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds.'
'It's our only hope. Our only hope and the way to deal with it is, where I have executive authority, I will use it to undo every single damn thing this guy has done by executive authority,' Biden added. 'So we gotta be careful.'