Gov. Larry Hogan is accusing President Biden of failing to live up to his inaugural pledge to unify the country.
The Maryland Republican claims Biden has allowed negotiations over a coronavirus relief package to get bogged down in partisan bickering, contradicting an Inauguration Day speech in which the president vowed his “whole soul” was focused on “bringing America together.” Hogan, a possible 2024 presidential candidate, does not spare top Republicans, either, rapping Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for abandoning his commitment “to find common ground” with the Democrats.
“Are these just empty words? We’re about to find out,” Hogan said in a video issued Monday morning by the advocacy group, No Labels, for which the governor serves as co-chairman. “Washington needs to pass a COVID-19 relief bill to save lives and livelihoods. But we need both parties at the table offering their best ideas. That’s the only way to stop the vicious cycle of divisiveness and dysfunction.”
Biden has hosted rank-and-file Senate Republicans at the White House to discuss counteroffers to his $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package and has left the door open to compromise. But the president has dismissed the GOP alternatives as insufficient, and he was supportive of the budget resolution moved by Senate Democrats that would allow his party to pass pandemic relief legislation without any Republican votes.
The White House is insisting Biden’s initial $1.9 trillion proposal would still be bipartisan if passed as-is, because it enjoys the support of voters across the political spectrum, even if it does not appear to enjoy the backing of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. But Hogan, a sharp critic of former President Donald Trump’s polarizing leadership style, said Biden must go further if he is serious about lowering partisan tensions.
“This moment demands humility and bipartisan cooperation, not more take it or leave it, or partisan obstruction,” Hogan said, to close the video, which opens with clips from Biden’s Jan. 20 speech after he was sworn in as the 46th president, as well as a recent speech delivered by McConnell on the Senate floor.
