President Joe Biden ran on promises to unify Americans, and devoted his Inaugural Address to the theme of “unity.” Since then, he has done nothing but divide the nation, as his Democratic Party tries to seize power.
Here are several examples:
1. Impeachment. In January, then-President-elect Biden took a hands-off approach to the potential impeachment of outgoing President Donald Trump, telling reporters: “We’re going to do our job and the Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs.” But once he was sworn in, Biden encouraged the Senate to hold an impeachment trial, telling CNN: “I think it has to happen.” The sole purpose of the trial was to deny Trump the right to run for public office again. The Senate voted to acquit.
2. Jobs. Biden canceled the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office, causing thousands of layoffs and destroying tens of thousands of jobs that were to have been created by the project. Many of those jobs were exactly the kind of “good, paying, union jobs” that Biden had promised; the pipefitters’ union had even endorsed Biden, only to react angrily when he canceled the pipeline. The Obama-Biden administration itself had cleared the pipeline in an environmental review, but climate change activists objected to any oil and gas development or infrastructure, and Biden bowed to their demands.
3. COVID-19 funding. As conservative columnist Marc Thiessen noted in the Washington Post this week: “Until Biden came along, every single covid-19 relief bill was approved with overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses.” But President Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion bill packed with Democratic Party priorities that had nothing to do with the coronavirus. When 10 Republican Senators met with Biden to offer their ideas, he dismissed them without any compromises. Democrats pushed through the spending bill on a party-line vote, using reconciliation to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.
4. Election reform. Both parties have complained about problems with elections for the past two decades. But instead of pursuing bipartisan reform, President Biden has endorsed Democrats’ H.R. 1 (or S.1), the so-called “For the People Act,” which would override state voting laws — including voter ID, favored by the majority of voters — and mandate unlimited “ballot harvesting.” The bill is designed to ensure the Democratic Party can control the voting process and cling to power.
5. Infrastructure. Both Republicans and Democrats want to see the federal government fix roads and bridges. President Trump launched an effort to overhaul U.S. infrastructure — and was blocked by Democrats. When President Biden pushed for infrastructure, Republicans were optimistic — until his $2.3 trillion plan was revealed. Only 37% of the plan, at most, counts as “infrastructure.” Moreover, Biden is proposing to raise taxes to pay for it — in the midst of an economic recovery.
6. Immigration. Most Americans favor some kind of immigration reform; most also want secure borders. But Biden ended Trump’s successful border policies, canceling the “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers and stopping construction on the border wall. The result has been a huge migrant surge, including record numbers of unaccompanied minors, who are kept in the “cages” Democrats once decried. Now Democrats are silent — perhaps because they see migrants as future voters.
7. Court-packing. Biden, like most Americans, once opposed the idea of “packing” the Supreme Court — that is, adding more justices so that the ruling party does not have to fear judicial review. But he retreated in the face of left-wing demands during the election, and promised to create a commission to study the idea. On Thursday, Democrats introduced their bill expanding the Court from nine to 13 justices — and the White House declined to rule out the idea, given several chances.
Biden has also endorsed reforming the filibuster, which would effectively eliminate it, ending protections for the Senate minority and allowing Democrats to impose their will. Biden’s “unity” pledge will have become a cover for a power grab.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.