President Biden laughed Wednesday when a reporter told him on the day after the midterm elections that former President Donald Trump’s political movement is still strong.
“Oh yeah?” Mr. Biden replied with a smirk.
Mr. Biden dismissed Republicans’ smaller-than-expected gains in Tuesday’s congressional elections.
Some Republicans blamed Mr. Trump’s influence for the relatively lackluster showing.
Mr. Biden said his main takeaway was not to change his approach to governing.
“I’m not going to change anything in any fundamental way,” the president said at a rare press conference in the East Room of the White House. “We’re just getting started. While the press and the pundits were predicting a giant red wave, it didn’t happen.”
As for Mr. Trump’s expected announcement next week that he will run again in 2024, Mr. Biden said, “We just have to demonstrate that he will not take power if he does run.”
Mr. Biden took a victory lap by arguing that Democrats avoided a shellacking in the midterm elections because his party’s candidates and policies are popular with the American people.
He hailed the election results as “a good day for democracy” while acknowledging that not all races had been decided.
“We’ve lost very few seats for certain,” Mr. Biden said. “We still have the possibility of keeping the House, but it’s going to be close.”
While Republicans are likely to eke out control of the House, the Senate remains up for grabs with critical races in Arizona, Nevada and Georgia undecided. The Senate race in Georgia between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker appears to be headed to a runoff election that will be decided next month.
The tight midterm races defied expectations of a red wave of conservative victories fueled by voter anger toward Mr. Biden’s inability to rein in soaring inflation and crack down on violent crime.
Despite the dismal polls that suggested voters were fed up with Mr. Biden, Democrats stopped Republicans from major gains in the House and could retain control of the Senate.
Mr. Biden enjoyed vindication. He stayed up past midnight Tuesday and personally called nearly 40 victorious Democrats to congratulate them.
The president spent much of the campaign’s final days on the defensive by shoring up the Democratic base and reaching out to Black voters. He stayed away from battleground states where candidates feared his unpopularity would drag down their election hopes.
Mr. Biden was widely criticized for focusing on abortion rights and what he said were threats to democracy. Pundits said the president’s midterm message should have zeroed in on soaring prices and inflation.
While saying voters “spoke clearly about their concerns,” Mr. Biden acknowledged that more needs to be done to control rising costs.
Exit polls showed that inflation and abortion were the most important issues driving Americans’ votes.
“There’s still a lot of people hurting. They’re very concerned, and it’s about crime and public safety,” Mr. Biden said. “And they sent a clear and unmistakable message that they want to preserve our democracy and protect the right to choose in this country.”
Still, Mr. Biden said he was optimistic about what he expects to accomplish in the next year of his administration and highlighted his legislative victories so far, including his massive climate, spending and health care initiative and his bipartisan infrastructure law.
After two years of Democratic control of Congress, a change in leadership in the House or Senate would eliminate Mr. Biden’s ability to get his top agenda items passed. He has only two months until the end of the year while Democrats still control Congress.
Mr. Biden said he plans to invite Republican leaders to the White House to discuss how to work together. He was expected to speak with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California on Wednesday.
The turnover also would make the president, his son Hunter Biden and administration officials the targets of Republican-led investigations. The president said he wasn’t concerned about that prospect.
“Lots of luck in your senior years, my coach used to say,” Mr. Biden said of the anticipated Republican inquiries. “I think the American public wants us to move on. … It’s almost comedy [from Republicans]. I can’t control what they’re going to do. All I can do is continue to try to make life better for the American people.”
Republican lawmakers likely will chair powerful committees, giving them the authority to issue subpoenas, compel witness testimony and launch investigations. Some Republicans in the House have already sent more than 500 preservation letter requests to Biden administration officials as they gear up for oversight powers.
Mr. Biden acknowledged the obvious on Monday: that the next two years would be “more difficult” if Republicans take control.
The president said Wednesday that he intends to run for reelection in 2024 but won’t make a final decision until early next year after consulting with his family.
Asked whether he would rather run in 2024 against Mr. Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who won a second term Tuesday by a huge margin, the president suggested that a Republican primary battle between the two party heavyweights would be damaging for both.
“It would be fun watching them take on each other,” Mr. Biden said.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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