The Biden administration on Tuesday signaled its rejection of radical police reforms championed by the progressive wing of his own party.
The question: White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked to address Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s recent call to end law enforcement.
- “No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed,” the Michigan Democrat tweeted on Monday.
The answer: Biden’s spokeswoman dismissed the notion that Biden and Tlaib saw eye-to-eye on policing issues.
- “What I can state from here is that that’s not the President’s view,” she said. “The president’s view is that there are necessary, outdated reforms that should be put in place; that there is accountability that needs to happen; that the loss of life is far too high; that these families are suffering around the country; and that the Black community is exhausted from the ongoing threats they feel.”
- According to Psaki, Biden believes legislative reforms, such as the George Floyd Act, will help rebuild “trust in communities in order to to get to a better place.”
- But, the White House press secretary did reassure reporters that “the president sees racial equity as a central focus of his presidency, and his actions bear that out.”
The criticism: Biden’s detractors accuse him of embracing radically partisan policies — including passing an economic stimulus that outspent the New Deal and establishing a commission on packing the Supreme Court — and taking divisive “woke” stances after campaigning on a promise of national unity.
