Biden Now in Stronger Position After This Week: Brookings' West on LIVE

Biden Now in Stronger Position After This Week: Brookings' West on LIVE

Brookings Institution Vice President Darrell West said the country needs to deal with the “extreme polarization” that came to head this week at the U.S. Capitol — but also that the week saw President-Elect Joe Biden emerge in a stronger position than before. 

“It was almost an act of insurrection,” said West of Wednesday’s domestic terrorism at the U.S. Capitol where now five people have died. “Some people were calling it a coup d’etat — the good news is the coup failed.  It raises such questions as can we actually trust Trump to be president for the next two weeks until he leaves office.”

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“From the standpoint of democracy — how do we put our system back together? How do we deal with this extreme polarization that led to what we saw [on Wednesday]?” he asked.

Biden’s Political Fate

“We now have a Democratic President, a Democratic House, and a Democratic Senate, albeit a fifty-fifty Senate with the tiebreaker going to the new Vice President,” said West. 

“This week has actually put Biden in a much strong position,” said West. “In terms of executing his policies, getting his Cabinet members confirmed — just having majority control gives you control over the legislative calendar, it just makes everything easier.”

“But it’s not going to be a slam dunk for Biden on any issue,” warned West. “He is going to have to be pretty moderate in the policies he pursues. There are going to be times he’s going to need to have to pick up a few Republican votes. But he feels much better going forward with those Georgia votes.”