Speaking on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, the president-elect said, “This is a team that reflects America is back. Ready to rule the world, not walk away from it. Sit at the head of the table again, ready to face our adversaries and not to reject our allies. Ready to defend our values. ”
Biden said that in John Kerry, former secretary of state and presidential candidate, America would for the first time have a full-time climate leader, someone with “a seat at all the tables in the world.” Biden also said that the 2004 nominee, “one of my closest friends,” would “speak for America on one of the most premonitory threats of our time. Person I trust more.
The former vice president spoke in front of a blue lectern entitled “Office of the President-elect,” on a stage with a matching blue background. He promised to restore America’s global and moral leadership, ensuring that military personnel and diplomats are “free from politics.”
He added, “They will not only fix, but also reinvent US foreign policy and national security for the next generation.”
Biden was entering a new phase of his transition after the federal government finally recognized him as the “apparent winner” of the November 3 election, granting access to offices, briefings and millions of dollars of funds.
Trump, who spent weeks falsely claiming the election was tainted with voter fraud, offered his support for the move, effectively abandoning his long-term attempt to overturn the result, though he still has refused to give in officially. He spoke to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, touting stock market gains but not answering questions.
Biden tweeted: “The election is over. It’s time to put aside partisanship and rhetoric aimed at demonizing each other. We must unite. “
There could hardly be a greater contrast between Trump’s rambling and whimsical team selection four years ago, which favored businessmen, television performers and his own family, and what Politico has referred to as Biden’s “careerist revenge”.
The new foreign and national security policy team is steeped in Washington experience, especially Obama administration alumni. Antony Blinken, a trusted adviser to Biden who was appointed to head the State Department, said in Wilmington on Tuesday that America must move forward with humility and confidence.
“We cannot solve all the world’s problems alone,” he said. “We have to work with other countries.” But he added, “America, at its best, still has a greater ability than any other country on earth to bring others together to meet the challenges of our time.”
Jake Sullivan will serve as National Security Advisor while Linda Thomas-Greenfield is appointed Ambassador to the United Nations. Avril Haines, former deputy director of the CIA, will become, if confirmed, the first woman to be director of national intelligence.
Biden reportedly intends to make Janet Yellen the first female secretary in the 231-year history of the US Treasury. She led the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018.
Brendan Buck, former adviser to former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, tweeted: “These nominations and Biden nominations are so deliciously boring.”
Some fear that Biden’s advisers will revert to Washington’s policies and means that fueled Trump’s rise. But Jenna Ben-Yehuda, president of the Truman Center, a foreign policy institute where Sullivan sits on the board, told the Washington Post: “I think it would be a mistake to say that just because these are names , we know this is going to be a repeat of the policies we have seen.
“These are smart people who saw the world change under Trump.”
Biden is on track to build America’s most diverse cabinet, comprising of women and people of color.
Alejandro Mayorkas, appointed secretary for internal security, is Cuban-American. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a prominent House progressive, tweeted: “This is a very strong and smart choice. Mayorkas knows personally what it is like to be an immigrant like me and tens of millions of people across the country. He … will help us embrace humane immigration reform and restore humanity to DHS.
Leftist activists praised Kerry. Varshini Prakash, co-founder and executive director of the Sunrise movement, said: “I have worked alongside Secretary Kerry on the Biden-Sanders climate task force, and I know he is determined to engage and to listen to young voices – even when we agree – and make sure we have a seat at the table.
But Prakash added, “What’s the use of engaging in foreign diplomacy if we don’t do all we can at home?” The next White House is also to include a national counterpart reporting directly to the president to head a Climate Mobilization Office, which can bring together, convene and push federal agencies, departments, states and local governments, industry and the civil society to use all the tools. available to them to face the climate crisis. “
Critics have said Trump’s refusal to accept defeat undermines U.S. democracy and undermines the ability of the next administration to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday evening, Emily Murphy, chief of general service administration, said she would officially recognize the transition. Under increasing pressure from his own party, Trump has said he supports Murphy, but pledged to continue fighting the election results “at full speed.” He added that he “would never concede”.
Biden won 306 electoral votes to 232 and holds a lead of over 6 million in the popular vote. There is no evidence of irregularities in an election that the Department of Homeland Security has described as the safest in U.S. history.
On Tuesday, Biden’s nominees wore masks which they took off when they spoke. Thomas-Greenfield said, “America is back. Multilateralism is back. Diplomacy is back. “
