Joe Biden’s longtime friend and colleague Sen. Chris Coons may be key to the president-elect being able to work with Senate Republicans.
Coons, 57, has a unique relationship with many GOP lawmakers, working closely with them even in a highly partisan climate. During an interview with Politico, the Delaware Democrat said he hopes to help Biden in the Senate, though he would have been open to a position within the administration. Coons was a top contender for Biden’s secretary of state, a post eventually given to Tony Blinken.
“I can’t say I’m not disappointed to not be joining the administration,” Coons said. “But, you know, a week later, I’m really optimistic that I’ll have the opportunity to be centrally involved.”
Coons, who refers to his Senate colleagues as “my family,” has been open about working with lawmakers across the aisle and has worked to strengthen his relationship with many, including allies of President Trump, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican, along with other GOP colleagues, called Coons shortly after the election to discuss working together.
“He’s going to be one of the most influential people in the Senate, because of his relationship with [Biden] and his relationship with his colleagues,” Graham said. “He’s in a very pivotal role. He tries to do deals. He has the confidence of Biden.”
Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, also praised Coons, saying the Democrat has a strong relationship with many in the Senate.
“He has excellent relationships with a tremendous number of senators, including many Republicans. And I would include myself in that,” Toomey said. Coons praised Toomey after he became one of the first to acknowledge Trump’s election defeat.
Other Republicans say Coons’s personal history with Biden will be influential in communicating the needs of the president-elect in a way that may be stronger than someone who has only publicly known him.
Coons met Biden in 1986 in Washington, D.C., and has been supportive of his presidential aspirations since his first run in 1988. He helped Biden in 2008 when he went for the bid again and waited to endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016 in case Biden was going to try a third run for the White House.
Coons also had a close relationship with Biden’s late son Beau, with whom he started a Young Democrats organization. Lawmakers, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, said they reached out to Coons on how to express condolences to the then-vice president when the younger Biden died of cancer in 2015.
“He speaks for Joe Biden differently, because he’s not talking about his policy issues,” said Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, in a separate interview with Politico in June. “He’s talking about him as a person, and that’s a different kind of a relationship.”