Biden White House seeks to turn page on Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — The tip of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial opens a brand new chapter for his successor within the White Home.

However whereas President Joe Biden and his crew are keen to maneuver previous the impeachment, the bitterly partisan tone of the proceedings underscores the deep challenges forward because the president and his get together attempt to push ahead their agenda and handle historic crises.

Biden, who was on the Camp David presidential retreat when the Senate voted Saturday to acquit Trump, had acknowledged that Democrats wanted to carry the previous president chargeable for the siege of the U.S. Capitol however didn't welcome the best way it distracted from his agenda.

The trial ended with each Democrat and 7 Republicans voting to convict Trump, however the 57-43 vote was removed from the two-third threshold required for conviction. Whether or not the seven GOP votes towards Trump supplied Biden any new hope for bipartisan cooperation inside Congress remained an open query.

In an announcement, Biden referenced these GOP votes in favor of convicting the previous president — and Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell's personal indictment of Trump's actions — as proof that “the substance of the charge," that Trump was responsible for inciting violence at the Capitol, is "not in dispute."

But he quickly moved on to the work ahead, sounding a note of unity and declaring that “this sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile" and that “each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.”

“It's a task we must undertake together. As the United States of America,” Biden stated.

Biden made some extent of not watching the trial reside, selecting to remark solely briefly on the searing photographs of the riot that gripped the nation. Although his White Home publicly argued that the trial didn't hinder their plans, aides privately frightened {that a} prolonged continuing might bathroom down the Senate and gradual the passage of his large COVID-19 aid invoice. That $1.9 trillion proposal is simply the primary a part of a sweeping legislative agenda Biden hopes to go as he battles the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed greater than 480,000 Individuals and rattled the nation’s financial system.

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“The No. 1 priority for Democrats and the Biden administration is going to be to deliver on the promises that have been made on the pandemic, both on the vaccine front and the economic front,” stated Democratic strategist Josh Schwerin.

The tip of the impeachment trial frees the get together to concentrate on much less divisive and extra broadly widespread points and insurance policies, just like the coronavirus aid bundle, which polls present has important assist amongst Individuals.

All through his marketing campaign, Biden labored to keep away from being outlined by Trump and his controversies and as an alternative sought to attract a distinction on coverage and competence, a tenet that he and his aides have carried over into the White Home.

His crew stored up a gentle drumbeat of occasions through the trial, together with an replace on vaccine improvement and Biden's first go to to the Pentagon as commander in chief. With the proceedings on the opposite finish of Pennsylvania Avenue now over, the White Home plans to extend its efforts to highlight the battle towards the pandemic and push previous Trump's chaos.

Former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota predicted that in a state like hers, the place Trump gained 65% of the vote, specializing in these pressing points would make extra headway with common voters now.

“What we have to be talking about is the economy — getting the economy back working, and turning the page” on the final administration, she stated. “Good coverage is nice politics. We have to get again to that."

Democrats have a decision to make in how to deal with Trump going forward. While the end of the impeachment trial offers a clear opportunity for the party to focus squarely on its own agenda, Trump can also be a potent political weapon for Democrats, not to mention a big driver of campaign cash.

After Saturday's vote, American Bridge 21st Century, the Democratic Party's opposition research arm, issued a statement calling out senators from Ohio and Florida, two states that Democrats are targeting in the 2023 election, for voting against convicting Trump.

“Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, and nearly every other Senate Republican put their loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of the rule of law, the Capitol police officers who protect them every day, and the oaths they swore to uphold the Constitution,” said Bradley Beychock, the group's president, calling the senators “spineless sycophants.”

Still, Schwerin cautioned that Trump can't be Democrats' “primary focus.”

“We shouldn’t ignore the fact that a lot of the problems that the country is dealing with are because of Trump’s failures, but he shouldn’t be the focus of every fundraising email and press release. We should be looking forward,” he said.

Biden plans to keep up a busy schedule focused on the coronavirus pandemic in the coming week.

The president will make his first official domestic trips this week: a TV town hall in Wisconsin on Tuesday to talk to Americans impacted by the coronavirus and a visit to a Pfizer vaccine facility in Michigan on Thursday.

White House legislative affairs staffers were poised to work with House committees on crafting details of the COVID-19 relief bill, which Democrats hope to vote on next month.

Still, some within the party aren't finished with Trump. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a leading progressive advocacy group, issued a petition Saturday night encouraging supporters to call on attorney general nominee Merrick Garland to “investigate and prosecute Trump and his entire criminal network for law breaking."

Biden is prone to proceed to face questions on how his Justice Division will deal with a variety of ongoing federal and legal probes into Trump's companies and his conduct as president.

And his aides might be awaiting Trump's subsequent strikes, significantly if he claims exoneration and heats up his political exercise and even factors towards a 2024 marketing campaign. The plan, for now, is to attempt to ignore the previous president.

Former Democratic Nationwide Committee Chair Donna Brazile warned that Trump will not make it simple however Democrats have to keep away from getting sucked again into his orbit.

“I don’t suppose Donald Trump goes to vanish from anybody’s lips any day quickly, and that’s as a result of Donald Trump will at all times search to seek out methods to inject himself and serve himself,” she stated.

“While Donald Trump is figuring out who he is going to go after next, Democrats are going to figure out how they’re going to lift people up and how they’re going to protect and help the American people.”