Biden says Republican Party numbers 'vastly diminished' under Trump
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[June 15, 2021]
By Steve Holland
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe
Biden views the Republican Party as vastly diminished in numbers even as
it remains in lockstep with the man he defeated, former President Donald
Trump.
"The leadership of the Republican Party is fractured and the Trump wing
of the party is the bulk of the party, but it makes up a significant
minority of the American people," Biden told a news conference in
Brussels after a NATO summit.
"I think it's appropriate to say that the Republican Party is vastly
diminished in numbers," Biden, a Democrat, said without offering
evidence for the assertion.
A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll in April showed 36% of Americans
identifying as Republican-leaning, compared with 42% for Democrats,
roughly the same as a year ago. Democrats narrowly control both houses
of Congress, and 23 U.S. states have Democratic governors, compared with
27 led by Republicans.
"Joe Biden’s comments about the GOP are lies and his dismissal of the 74
million Americans who voted Republican in November 2020, which flipped
15 seats in the House, underscores his failure to unite and lead our
country," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Emma Vaughn said.
A majority, some 53%, of Republicans believe Trump won the 2020 U.S.
presidential election and blame his loss to Biden on illegal voting, and
one quarter of the overall public agreed that Trump won, the poll found.
Biden won the election by more than 7 million votes and a 306-232 margin
in the Electoral College. Trump continues to argue that he lost due to
rampant electoral fraud, claims that were rejected by multiple courts
and state election officials.
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President Joe Biden holds a news conference at the end of the NATO
summit in Brussels, Belgium June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Biden has sought in Europe to counter China and
Russia by shoring up traditional international alliances that frayed
under Trump. International leaders, he said, understand that "we're
a decent, honorable nation."
His comments about Republicans aside, Biden hopes to salvage a deal
with the opposition party on infrastructure spending. He believes
doing so may hold the key to his party retaining its weak grasp on
legislative power.
"The agenda, whether it's dealing with the vaccine, the economy,
infrastructure. It's important that we demonstrate we can make
progress," Biden said.
Democrats hold a narrow majority in the House of Representatives,
and 50 votes in the 100-seat Senate, where ties are broken by
Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris. Elections for the House and
for a number of Senate seats will be held in November 2022.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Sabine Siebold and Philip Blenkinsop;
Additional reporting by Chris Kahn in New York; Writing by Trevor
Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Howard Goller and Peter
Cooney)
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