President Biden, taking a question from the Washington Blade following an event at the White House hailing Senate passage of the bipartisan infrastructure package, said lessons from the deal could apply to voting and police reform measures as well as to LGBTQ civil rights.
Biden, taking questions from reporters in a gaggle for the event, made the remarks in response to a question on whether any lessons can be drawn from the deal for the legislative issues, including the Equality Act, which appears to be all but dead in Congress.
Having previously remonstrated the media earlier in his remarks for having declared the infrastructure deal defeated, Biden initially responded jokingly with a smile: “By you guys are by me?”
“Anyone,” the Blade replied.
“I’m sorry, I’m shouldn’t kid,” Biden continued, “because I was just reading about 50 statements from very serious press people about how my whole plan was dead from the beginning.”
Biden went out to acknowledge a connection to the bipartisan deal and assumptions legislation in Congress, such as the Equality Act, won’t move forward.
“The lesson learned is being willing to call people in and listen, listen,” Biden said.
At this point, reporters tried to chime in with other question, but Biden quieted them by saying, “Let me finish.”
“And I think the lesson learned is exposing people to other views,” Biden said. “And so, that’s why from the beginning, on all the subjects you raised, I’ve sat with people and listened to their positions, some in agreement where I am and some in disagreement. And so, I think it’s matter of listening; it’s part of democracy.”
Story courtesy of the Washington Blade.