“And they’re already working on my ability to get presidential day shorts, we’re already working on meeting the White House Covid team and how to not only distribute, but get a vaccine that will be distributed to a person who can get vaccinated.”
“So I don’t think we’re going to fall as far behind the curve as we thought we could be in the past,” he added.
Biden’s remarks follow a day after the GSA informed him that the Trump administration was ready to begin the formal transition process. His transition team is now in talks with all federal agencies, an interim official told CNN. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease doctor, said on Tuesday that he had preliminary discussions with members of Biden’s team and expects further substantive discussions in the future.
Looking ahead of Tuesday’s administration, Biden vowed that his mandate would not be “Obama’s third term.”
“We are facing a completely different world than the one we faced during Obama-Biden’s rule,” he said. “President Trump has changed the landscape.”
He continued, “He became America first. It was America alone. We are in a situation where our alliances are being destroyed. That’s completely – that’s why I found people who join the administration and keep the spectrum points. The American people and the Democratic Party’s spectrum . ”
Asked on Tuesday if he would support Trump’s investigation after leaving office, as some Democrats have called for, Biden vowed to “not do what this president is doing and use the Department of Justice as my vehicle to insist that something happen” .
“I’ve read a number of studies that are going on at the state level. I can’t or can’t do that at all. But I’m focusing on getting the American public back to a place where there is some certainty, some guarantees, some knowledge that it can succeed,” he said.
“People in the middle class and the working class are being crushed. That’s my emphasis.”
And asked if Sens spoke. With Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren about the positions in the cabinet, Biden said: “We already represent a significant representation in our administration among the progressives, but there is really nothing on the table.”
He added, however, that “removing someone from the senate, removing them from the house, especially the person with consequences, is a really difficult decision to make.”
Biden told NBC he was considering appointing Republicans who voted for Trump to his cabinet.
“I want this country to unite. The goal of our administration is to unite again. We cannot have this virulent political dialogue. It must end,” Biden said.
Biden said he would be tackling the coronavirus epidemic when he took office, but added that he would also take action on immigration and climate in the first 100 days.
“Several things happen at once,” Biden said. “But I think the most important thing is to focus on the people who are always reached first when a crisis comes in, and recovery comes last.”
This story was updated with additional comments from Biden’s interview.
CNN’s Sarah Mucha, Kristen Holmes and Jeremy Herb contributed to the report.
