“In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Tuesday evening, President-elect Joe Biden addressed critiques that his administration is relying upon too many figures who previously served under former President Barack Obama. “This is not a third Obama term because we face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama-Biden administration,” Biden said when Holt asked if his upcoming tenure as commander-in-chief would largely be an extension of the 44th president’s. “President Trump has changed the landscape. It’s become ‘America First’; it’s been ‘America Alone.’ We find ourselves in a position where our alliances are being frayed. … That’s why I’ve found people who joined the administration and keep points that represent the spectrum of the American people as well as the spectrum of the Democratic Party.” Biden’s incoming administration includes Obama-era politicians like former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Alejandro Mayorkas, who previously served as the deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The president-elect has tapped the men for secretary of state and homeland security secretary, respectively. When Holt asked if he would consider nominating any Republicans who had previously supported Trump, Biden responded that he had no timeline on such an announcement, but would be open to it to help unite the country. “The purpose of our administration is once again uniting,” Biden said. “We can’t keep this virulent political dialogue going. It has to end.” Holt also asked Biden about potentially appointing former Democratic opponents like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Biden said nothing was off the table but that keeping progressive allies in the House and Senate was foremost in his mind. “I’ve talked to them,” Biden said. “As I’ve said, we already have significant representation among progressives in our administration, but there’s nothing really off the table. But one thing is really critical. Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, particularly a person of consequence, is a really difficult decision that would have to be made. I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda, and it’s going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.” Biden added that he’d spoken with over 20 world leaders who were pleased that “America was going to reassert its role in the world and be a coalition-builder.” He championed his appointees’ experience as evidence that “America is back.” Nevertheless, the president-elect’s picks have gotten flak from Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who tweeted this week that the Biden’s Cabinet was filled with typical career politicians with Ivy League diplomas who would ultimately leave the U.S. reliant on foreign powers such as China. Watch Joe Biden’s remarks below.
Biden Selects Marcia Fudge As Housing Secretary, Tom Vilsack For Agriculture
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["WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration,...
Meryl Streep Points Out Something Obama Got ‘A Little Bit Wrong’ In His Memoir
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["Meryl Streep would like to set the record straight. During an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Monday, the Oscar-winning actor clarified a certain moment that former President Barack Obama got ...
Trump Trade Adviser Violated Hatch Act With Biden Attacks, Watchdog Says
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["White House trade adviser Peter Navarro repeatedly violated a federal law that prohibits some members of the federal government from engaging in political activity, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel reported Monday...
Biden To Tap Rochelle Walensky To Lead CDC: Reports
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["President-elect Joe Biden plans to tap Rochelle Walensky, the head of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, as his incoming director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Politico and R...
Trump’s Parting Gift To Biden: An Even Worse Catastrophe In Yemen
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["Video credit: Skye Fitzgerald, director, Spin Film As one of its final foreign policy acts in office, the Trump administration could take a step that would push millions of people in Yemen into starvation and prolon...
Biden Predicts ‘Bleak Future’ If Congress Doesn’t Act On COVID-19 Aid
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["WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is predicting a “bleak future” if Congress doesn’t take speedy action on a coronavirus aid bill amid a nationwide spike in the virus that’s hampering the country’s e...
Biden Hints At A Mostly Virtual Inauguration Ceremony: ‘The Key Is Keeping People Safe’
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["President-elect Joe Biden — who received the most votes in presidential election history — may also end up having the quietest inauguration in recent memory. Biden hinted at a toned-down ceremony devoid of the usua...