Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said statements in President Biden’s farewell speech came much too late in a Thursday statement, raising question with the commander in chief’s parting remarks.
“Now he tells us. Biden speaks out against dark money, for climate action, and for SCOTUS term limits. I pressed four years for this speech,” Whitehouse posted on social platform X.
“That was a great speech. Had that speech launched the reelection campaign, we’d have won. Had that speech launched his presidency, we’d have saved America. Now we fight on,” he wrote in a subsequent post.
Whitehouse’s comments criticizing Biden emphasize party sentiments after Democrats not only lost the White House but also the majority in the Senate, delivering the GOP a trifecta. Some have criticized Biden for not suspending his presidential campaign early enough, which resulted in a stunted bid for the presidency by Vice President Harris.
Throughout his time in office, Biden proposed a few of the ideas mentioned by Whitehouse, such as pushing for Supreme Court term limits, but never candidly revealed these desires in a compact speech, such as the one delivered Wednesday.
The overarching theme of the outgoing president’s final address focused on the consolidation of power, warning of oligarchs as President-elect Trump enters the White House.
“In a democracy, there’s another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division,” he stated. “Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don’t feel like they have a fair shot.”
“But we have to stay engaged in the process,” he continued.
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