Biden plays the unity card with praise for Trump

It’s taken 12 months, but Joe Biden has praised his predecessor for the first time, acknowledging his efforts to develop vaccines.

US President Joe Biden speaks about the status of the country’s fight against Covid-19 and the Omicron variant, in the White House. Picture: AFP

President Biden has praised his predecessor for the first time in a marked change of tone acknowledged by Donald Trump as a step towards “healing” America’s divisions.

The two found common ground over coronavirus vaccines, with Biden recognising Trump for developing them and for announcing that he received a booster, as the US experiences a surge in cases fuelled by the Omicron variant.

There was no Christmas truce in Washington, however, as Republican leaders made overtures to recruit Joe Manchin, the sole Democratic senator holding out against Biden’s expensive social reform plans.

It was a year that did not go to plan for Biden, ending with his ratings in the basement. He began his presidency in January with pledges to overcome the coronavirus and revive a golden era of bipartisan political co-operation to restore the “soul of America”.

Biden is languishing at 43.7 per cent approval in the 538 poll aggregate, near the nadir for his presidency of 42.3 per cent at the start of the month and the lowest numbers of any post-war president apart from Trump.

Many conservatives had noted Biden’s reluctance to give any credit to his predecessor for Operation Warp Speed, the $10 billion program to develop and manufacture several vaccines that proved one of the success stories of the Trump administration.

Former US President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

All that changed on Tuesday with Biden seeking to explore every avenue to encourage Americans to take the jab.

“Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America was one of the first countries to get the vaccine,” Biden said in a speech from the White House launching measures to tackle the variant.

“Thanks to my administration and the hard work of Americans, we led a rollout that made America among the world leaders in getting shots in arms.”

Trump later told Fox News: “I’m very appreciative of that – I was surprised to hear it. I think it was a terrific thing, and I think it makes a lot of people happy. I think he did something very good. You know, it has to be a process of healing in this country, and that will help a lot.”

Trump said that “tone” was the key to defeating vaccine scepticism, rejecting Biden’s use of mandates such as his order for all federal contractors and companies with more than 100 employees to ensure all staff are vaccinated, which are being challenged in court.

Biden seized upon Trump’s admission that he received a booster jab, which was met with boos from the audience, who paid upwards of $100 each to hear him speak in Dallas on Sunday.

“I got my booster shot as soon as they were available,” Biden said. “And just the other day former President Trump announced he had gotten his booster shot. It may be one of the few things he and I agree on.”

Biden, 79, has suggested several times over the year that life will soon return to normal only to be caught out by further surges triggered by new variants and resistance to the vaccine. Despite widespread availability, over a quarter of US adults are not fully vaccinated and one third have had the booster.

People wait in line to enter a coronavirus vaccination site at Yankee Stadium. Picture: AFP

His frustration showing, Biden snapped at the media and urged them to do more to combat vaccine misinformation. In his White House speech he said: “Uptake slowed this summer as vaccine resistance among some hardened … those choices have been fuelled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media.

“You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters.”

Manchin, 74, a lifelong Democrat but an outlier in the party, chose Fox News to announce on Sunday that he would not vote for Build Back Better, Biden’s dollars 1.75 trillion package to improve social care and fight climate change. His decision not to back the linchpin of Biden’s domestic agenda after months of fraught negotiation prompted a stinging response from the White House and fury from fellow Democrats.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, wooed Manchin by saying that he would feel more comfortable in his party, a switch that would hand control of the chamber to him.

“Why in the world would they want to call him a liar and try to hotbox him and embarrass him?” McConnell told The New York Times. “I think the message is, ‘We don’t want you around.’”

Biden ends the year without his signature legislation on the statute book but it is still alive. He refused to be drawn into criticism of Manchin after his White House speech.

“Did Senator Manchin break his commitment to you?” a reporter asked. “When you announced the framework, the White House says that all 50 [Democratic] senators were believed to get behind it.”

Biden said: “Senator Manchin and I are going to get something done.”

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ANALYSIS

By David Charter, US Editor

From his first day in office, President Biden diagnosed his job as making America feel better.

That meant bringing the pandemic under control by throwing vast resources behind vaccinations, treatments and testing.

More figuratively, he aimed to restore the “soul” of the country by healing divisions, returning to competent governance and showing that Washington could work for ordinary Americans. “His theory was that you can use practical, functional improvements in people’s lives to change the political temperature in America,” Evan Osnos, a Biden biographer, told the Vox website.

As long as the country remains sick from Covid and its economic and political woes, Biden will be regarded as a failure by the majority of voters.

His first year brought significant achievements, notably the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill and the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure and jobs bill. Unemployment has fallen from 6.3 per cent in January to 4.2 per cent.

But America is not feeling well. Biden’s attempts to project competence were sunk by the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and rising inflation. Omicron is surging, with battles over vaccines that have led Biden to try a new way to talk to the sceptics.

Donald Trump was booed by his own supporters for taking a booster but urged them to feel positive about vaccines in a sign that here was a potential ally in the drive to change minds among sceptics.

It took almost 12 months but Biden has taken a step towards reunifying America by acknowledging his predecessor’s efforts to develop vaccines.

Trump will never concede the election but he went on Fox News to thank Biden in a Christmas truce that may not last long but at least showed Americans can find common ground when they need to.

The Times