On Wednesday, the United States (US) President Joe Biden held a solo press conference at the White House’ East Room a day before the first anniversary of his inauguration into office. During the two-hour-long press meet, Biden covered various issues that have marked his first year in office, from COVID-19 to America’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “I didn’t overpromise,” Biden said, adding, “I have probably outperformed what anybody thought would happen,” referring to his presidential campaign promises to control the COVID-19 pandemic and to rebuild the American economy.
COVID-19
Biden opened by saying “It’s been a year of challenges, but it’s also been a year of enormous progress” as he proceeded to highlight the various achievements of his administration, particularly the vaccination drive that saw the total vaccinations jump from two million at the beginning of his tenure in office to 210 million now. Biden emphasised that despite the pandemic, there is still hope for Americans. “Some people call this a new normal. I call it a job not-yet-finished,” he said.
However, Biden also acknowledged the faults in his pandemic policy particularly in testing for the virus. “Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes,” he said, adding that the administration is working towards it. “We’ve gone from zero at-home tests a year ago to 375 million tests on the market just this month,” he said. Biden stressed that America is in a “better place” regarding the COVID-19 virus as he dismissed speculations over imposing lockdowns and school shutdowns.
Republican Opposition
While defending his track record in office, Biden highlighted how his Republican colleagues do not share his vision of making things better for America. Biden called out Republicans in their “stalwart efforts” towards blocking his policy agenda, adding that “one man out of the office” (Donald Trump) was intimidating Republican senators into not supporting Biden’s policies. Moreover, Biden mentioned that five unnamed Republicans agreed with him in private about his comments on Trump’s intimation but remained fearful to speak out as they might lose their primaries. “We’ve got to break that. It’s got to change,” Biden said.
The President expressed fondness towards Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — a vocal critic of the Biden administration — but also highlighted that McConnell’s main goal is to thwart the current administration's policies.
The Build Back Better Act
Biden all but confirmed that his flagship infrastructure proposal — the $2 trillion Build Back Better Act — would fail to gain passage in its current form. “It’s clear to me that we’re probably going to have to break it up,” he said. However, Biden expressed confidence in getting “big chunks” of the act passed. According to Biden, the deadlock over Build Back Better was having spill-over effects on America’s supply chain crisis. Biden echoed similar sentiments towards another one of his signature legislative promises, the voting rights changes, that remain blocked in the senate. The Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act — two bills backed by Biden — are touted to fail after Senate Democrats failed to gain a clear vote on them.