A Thursday report from The Intercept cited an audio recording that showed President-elect Joe Biden expressing concern over police reform and its impact on the Democratic Party ahead of the Georgia Senate runoffs. The Democrat reportedly made the remarks at a two-hour virtual meeting with civil rights leaders, as well as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“I also don’t think we should get too far ahead ourselves on dealing with police reform in that, because they’ve already labeled us as being ‘defund the police’ anything we put forward in terms of the organizational structure to change policing — which I promise you, will occur,” he was quoted as saying.
“That’s how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we’re talking about defunding the police. We’re not.”
Biden claimed that the Democratic Party is instead focusing on holding law enforcement accountable, providing them with funding to “do the right things” and be more effective at their jobs, and ensuring more psychiatrists and psychologists are on the line for 911 calls.
The Democrat pushed the civil rights leaders to consider how much they advocate for police reform in the lead-up to the runoffs on January 5, which he noted are crucial for his coalition’s consolidation of power.
The push to defund the police has received criticism from various prominent Democrats, who blame the movement for the coalition’s loss of House and Senate seats. Former President Barack Obama joined in the criticism and suggested that the slogan cost votes. Others, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have suggested alternate reasons for the losses.
As reported by Business Insider , the progressive lawmaker argued that the Democratic Party is out of touch with the digital marketing necessary for political races. Notably, she claimed that none of the campaigns that lost were effectively utilizing online advertising on platforms like Facebook.
Ocasio-Cortez was one lawmaker who pushed for defunding the police. She argued that affluent white communities are an example of regions where police receive less funding than health, housing, and youth. According to the New York congresswoman, these areas are examples of how defunding can be positive for communities.
Elsewhere in Biden’s recent virtual meeting, civil rights leaders allegedly pressured him to make a “slew of executive actions.” Although he suggested he would be focusing on some issues with these orders, he seemingly expressed hesitancy about wielding the power.
“I am not going to violate the Constitution. Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds.”
Nevertheless, Biden committed to using executive authority to reverse all of the things Donald Trump enacted with the power.
