Democrat candidate Joe Biden admitted that the ‘Defund the Police’ movement destroyed Democrats’ chances of winning down-ballot races during the 2020 election, according to leaked audio of Biden’s recent meeting with civil rights leaders.
The group of activists pressed Biden about the need to be aggressive in rolling back some of the Trump administration’s policies and passing police reform initiatives, but Biden warned that aggressive action could backfire.
“I also don’t think we should get too far ahead of ourselves on dealing with police reform in that, because they’ve already labeled us as being ‘defund the police’ anything we put forward in terms of the organizational structure to change policing — which I promise you, will occur. Promise you,” Biden said, according to The Intercept.
Biden specifically mentioned the Georgia Senate run-off elections, which will determine who controls the chamber.
“Just think to yourself and give me advice whether we should do that before Jan. 5th, because that’s how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we’re talking about defunding the police. We’re not. We’re talking about holding them accountable,” Biden continued.
Biden also told civil rights leaders he does not intend to push the limits of his executive authority.
“There’s some things that I’m going to be able to do by executive order,” Biden reportedly said. “I’m not going to hesitate to do it, but what I’m not going to do is I’m not going to say, ‘On Day 1, I’m gonna have an executive order to do this!’ Not within the constitutional authority. I am not going to violate the Constitution.”
Biden is one of several top Democrats who have warned party members not to get caught up in leftist initiatives, such as ‘Defund the Police.’
Several House members blame leftists’ support of the movement as the reason so many Democratic candidates and incumbents lost their races.
