NEW: Biden WH Does Lengthy Victory Dance Over ‘Groundbreaking’ Record, Swats ‘MAGA Extremists’ and ‘Formulaic Commentary’

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s White House put out a lengthy victory dance pegged to the passage of the year-end omnibus bill, but encompassing a “groundbreaking legislative record” and swipes at “MAGA extremists” and “formulaic commentary” from the media.

Hot on the heels of the bipartisan omnibus bill’s passage,  White House Deputy Press Secretary and Senior Communications Advisor For Strategic Response Andrew Bates wrote an extensive memo to reporters that hit inboxes Friday night.

The subject line: “Exceeding his campaign promise to reach across the aisle, Joe Biden has delivered an historic 2 years of bipartisan accomplishments for the American people.”

The tone: very much in line with the “I told you so” tenor that the administration has adopted whenever a legislative or other success occurs in defiance of some punditry, with a heavy dash of Twitter-honed sharp elbows from Bates.

While bragging about the “historic bipartisan winning streak,” Bates notes the president was “undeterred by obstacles and formulaic commentary,” and took pains to note that “MAGA extremists who opposed these bipartisan wins were routed in key races across the country.”

Here’s the full memo, as emailed to Mediaite:

“Folks, I’m running to offer our country, Democrats, Republicans, and independents, a different path. Not back to a path that never was, but to a future that fulfills our true potential as a country.

Now, some of these same people are saying, Biden just doesn’t get it. You can’t work with Republicans anymore. That’s not the way it works anymore.

Well, folks, I’m going to say something outrageous. I know how to make government work.

Not because I’ve talked or tweeted about it, but because I’ve done it. I’ve worked across the aisle to reach consensus, to help make government work in the past. I can do that again with your help.”

-Then-candidate Joe Biden at his campaign launch rally in Philadelphia, 5/18/2019

When launching his campaign for president, Joe Biden pledged to find common ground with congressional Republicans, citing his years of experience working “across the aisle to reach consensus” and the need to make government work for the country again.

Pundits met his promise with dismissal, and claimed that the then-former Vice President was out of touch. But the American people endorsed it with the most votes for any candidate in history, and he has gone above and beyond in delivering.

The President’s signature of the government funding bill will extend the historic bipartisan winning streak that has more than fulfilled one of his core campaign promises. As just one example, the omnibus enacts the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, achieving goals the President has pursued for decades, as part of his efforts to uphold the rights of women and protect the dignity of work.

It also reforms the Electoral Count Act to foot-stomp the ability of any president – or any candidate – to override the will of the people, protecting the Constitution and the sovereign right of American voters to choose their leaders.

Importantly, this victory for democracy, made possible by Democrats and Republicans, took place during the very same week that the House Select Committee on January 6th issued their final report – which called for that change.

As the second year of his term closes, now-President Biden has cemented the most groundbreaking legislative record of any chief executive in modern history, and is poised to move into the new year implementing a raft of game-changing laws.

A hallmark of that record is that the President has exceeded his promise to bring Republicans and Democrats together, having signed more than 200 bipartisan bills – including many of the most significant laws in generations, which had eluded previous administrations:

• The biggest infrastructure investments since Dwight Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System are at work rebuilding America, with projects set to ramp up in 2023.
• An unprecedented China competitiveness law is already bringing jobs back to America and accelerating the manufacturing resurgence the President is leading.
• The most impactful gun reform since 1994 is fighting gun crime and helping save innocent lives.
• The first major legislation to provide medical care for veterans who were exposed to burn puts in the line of duty is now in force.
• A civil rights breakthrough is now protecting the fundamental American right to marry who you love.
• The Violence Against Women Act the President wrote as a Senator has been reauthorized.
• Critical military and economic support for Ukraine is standing up for our national security interests and our democratic values as we reclaim our leadership role on the world stage.

President Biden did all of this by resolutely focusing on how to build common ground, remaining undeterred by obstacles and formulaic commentary along the way. He used decades-long relationships and formed new ones, directed his cabinet and senior staff on strategy as well as outreach to both parties on the Hill, and knew when to give members public space on difficult issues while continuing to make progress behind the scenes.

President Biden did all of this despite sharp differences between the parties- about which he has always been cleared-eyed. He even did this despite the fact that a number of House and Senate Republicans voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The American people rewarded this record with the best midterms for a first-term president in 60 years, during which Republican members who worked with him on major bills saw renewed support from their constituents. Whereas MAGA extremists who opposed these bipartisan wins were routed in key races across the country.

Thanks to his experience and judgment, the President has gone beyond his promise to find consensus across the aisle, bringing Republicans and Democrats together to realize some of his top campaign platforms and move the country forward.

And he has been explicit at every turn before and after the midterms that he’s eager to keep working with his Republican colleagues, noting that American voters made clear that they expect the parties to work together when they rallied around his agenda and grew Democrats’ numbers in the Senate.

He goes into the new year with his hand outstretched to both parties in Congress, ready to keep putting country ahead of party and staying steadfastly focused on the needs of American families above all else. He wants to keep working together on cutting costs, bringing more jobs back from overseas, saving more lives from gun violence, and keeping the American people safe.

Like the President said yesterday in his Christmas message to the nation, “My hope this Christmas season is that we take a few moments of quiet reflection and find that stillness in the heart of Christmas — that’s at the heart of Christmas, and look — really look at each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, not as members of “Team Red” or “Team Blue,” but as who we really are: fellow Americans.”

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