Biden faces Republicans in the grip of Trump and his conspiracy theories

Washington | He multiplies meetings with his opponents: at the White House, by video link or on the tarmac.

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But whatever his intentions – and the political calculations – US President Joe Biden is in a unique position.

It is against a Republican party that stands behind Donald Trump and espouses its own conspiracy theories, including those that say the Democrat is not a legitimate president.

“It’s really unprecedented,” said Capri Cafaro, a professor at American University and a former Democrat-elect from Ohio.

“In recent history, it is difficult to think of a scenario that even comes close to this scenario.”

Throughout the week, Joe Biden, who wants to send his massive investment plans to Congress, will double the calls for unity.

On Tuesday, he will meet – via overlapping screens – the rulers of both sides.

On Wednesday, he welcomed the four congressional leaders to the White House: Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the Leader of the Republicans in the House, and Mitch McConnell, the House Leader. Republicans in the Senate.

“They will have an exchange to identify potential convergences on how to work together and provide concrete answers to the challenges facing American families,” a White House official said.

But Joe Biden will address officials in a party that 55% of supporters believe (according to the latest Reuters / Ipsos poll) that the defeat of Donald Trump in November was the result of a rigged election.

The fact that there is no iota of evidence to support these accusations changes nothing: what Biden calls the “big lie” is an integral part of Republican rhetoric.

Joe Biden himself thought things would be different once Donald Trump left Washington.

He predicted, “You will see that most of my Republican friends will suddenly reveal.”

“personality cult”

But from his luxury club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the real estate mogul remains the central – and frightening – of the “Great Old Party”.

To say clearly that the elections were not rigged is, for the elected Republican, exposing himself to his wrath. And with the primaries, you risk losing the party’s nomination by the next deadline.

Liz Cheney, one of the few parliamentarians from her party who stood up to him, denouncing “a dangerous and anti-democratic personality cult”, is about to lose her position as the third place Republican in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

However, it is Kevin McCarthy – one of the four slots to be greeted on Wednesday in the Oval Office – who is responsible for this public penalty.

The ex-avenger and conspiracy theories at the November 3 vote are not far from the only hurdles Joe Biden faces in his stated desire to “unite America”. He must also manage his party.

During the first three months of his tenure, he managed to preserve democratic family unity in the context of a pandemic that led to the Holy Union.

But when negotiations get tough over his plans for massive investments of more than $ 4,000 billion, tensions become apparent.

Some Democratic senators from the center, such as Joe Mansheen, have already expressed reservations. The latter, who has great bargaining power, knowing the Democrats will not have a majority anymore if he defects, Joe Biden greeted him on Monday.

In the medium term, the 2022 midterm elections, which have piqued the appetites of Republicans who dream of regaining control of the House and Senate, will not help.

The White House unfailingly highlights the long experience of Joe Biden.

“There are a few people in Washington who have the same experience as Joe Biden,” says Capri Cafaro.

But there is no assurance that his 36 years in the Senate would allow him to break out of this unusual hierarchy of American political history as “unifying.”