It hadn’t even been 24-hours since Joe Biden had been projected to be the president-elect and the Democratic Party was already in the early stages of a civil war amongst themselves. While CBS’s Margaret Brennan was pressing Democratic lawmakers to drop socialism for “moderate” politics, NBC political director Chuck Todd spent part of Sunday’s Meet the Press working the Biden campaign, grilling them on following through on their progressive “pillars,” and fretted he might “sell the left out.”
Todd’s first interview of the show was with deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield, in which he pressed her on what Biden saw as his mandates:
Let me start with this: We know – I – I – The President-Elect last night said this about his mandate, he said: "They've given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change, and systemic racism." I feel like he laid out four pillars there of his focus. Explain how will – how will we see that in the next couple of weeks during this transition? How will the public see that focus on this -- on what the President-Elect believes is his mandate?
Citing how “Democrats lost some ground in the House” and the Senate appeared to still be in Republican control, Todd was concerned that it sent Biden a message to ease back on the socialist addenda he promised. “So, do you think the country sent a message of, we don't want to give one party all the power? Hey, Joe Biden, your job is to work with everybody,” he asked.
In her response, Bedingfield explained that her boss thought his job as president was to “work to bring people to the table, to try to find consensus.” But that last word didn’t sit well with Todd.
“Some people hear the word ‘consensus’ on the left and think it means you're going to sell the left out,” he declared. Todd’s next concern was that the party’s socialist radicals like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) would be let down again:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this in an interview about her expectations on how the Biden administration will be to the left of the party. And she says, "The history of the party tends to be that we get really excited about the grassroots to get elected. And then those communities are promptly abandoned right after an election."
“Let me ask you this -- do you believe that she's going to be disappointed or not when she sees the agenda of the Biden administration in the first six months,” he demanded to know.
Bedingfield tried to reassure Todd that Biden had the most “incredibly progressive and aggressive agenda” ever, citing “the boldest, biggest climate plan that's ever been put forward.”
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Meet the Press
November 8, 2020
10:40:27 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: Let me start with this: We know – I – I – The President-Elect last night said this about his mandate, he said: "They've given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, climate change, and systemic racism." I feel like he laid out four pillars there of his focus. Explain how will – how will we see that in the next couple of weeks during this transition? How will the public see that focus on this -- on what the President-Elect believes is his mandate?
(…)
10:43:18 a.m. Eastern
TODD: It's interesting you said what the American people voted for. They voted -- the results are mixed if you look up and down the leadership of Washington, if you will. Right? Democrats lost some ground in the House. The Senate is an open question, but I'm sure you guys were hoping you'd already have control and not have to worry about the Georgia runoffs. So, do you think the country sent a message of we don't want to give one party all the power. Hey, Joe Biden, your job is to work with everybody?
KATE BEDINGFIELD: Well, Joe Biden believes his job is to work with everybody. So that is -- if that is the message for the American people, that's how Joe Biden views governing. He got into this campaign in April of 2019 making an argument that the president of the United States should work with everybody, and that that's the kind of leadership we should demand and expect.
So, that is his intention. He is going to work to bring people to the table, to try to find consensus. And you know, he has a track record of doing that. You know, if you look back at when he and President Obama came into office in 2009, in an economic crisis similar to the one that we're in now. And he was able to persuade Republican senators to vote for the Recovery Act. A massive investment in our infrastructure and jobs. So, he has a record of being able to do that. And that's how he's going to lead.
TODD: All right. Some people hear the word “consensus” on the left and think it means you're going to sell the left out. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said this in an interview about her expectations on how the Biden administration will be to the left of the party. And she says, "The history of the party tends to be that we get really excited about the grassroots to get elected. And then those communities are promptly abandoned right after an election."
Let me ask you this -- do you believe that she's going to be disappointed or not when she sees the agenda of the Biden administration in the first six months?
BEDINGFIELD: No. I think that Vice President Biden campaigned on an incredibly progressive and aggressive agenda. Take a look, for example, at his climate plan. It's the boldest, biggest climate plan that's ever been put forward by, you know, by a nominee running for president and now a president-elect.
He's going to make good on those commitments. He spent time during this campaign bringing people together around -- around this climate plan. He was able to get the endorsement of group like the Sunrise Movement and the endorsement of labor for this plan. It's a big, aggressive plan, it's the perfect example of the kind of, you know, big effort that he is going to make to meet this moment and to meet these crises that we're in.
(…)
