President Biden has put a heavy rhetorical emphasis on the concept of unity. The idea of working with Republicans and being president of all people is something that he had been campaigning on for months. He then specifically emphasized unity in his inaugural address and outright declared that “unity” was the theme of the day after he was sworn in.

The problem is that “unity” is such a vague term that it can mean different things to different people. Republicans would take it to mean that he’d recognize the mixed verdict of the election, which brought a 50-50 Senate and an almost evenly divided House, and compromise with Republicans on legislation. That would require Biden to stiff-arm his far-left flank.