President Biden touts gun safety legislation, but critics say he's not doing enough
President Biden held a formal bill signing ceremony Monday for the bipartisan gun control bill, which was passed in the wake of the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The bill had been signed into law in late June, but Monday's ceremony was a chance for the president to dig in his heels on gun reform. He emphasized that while the bill is an important step, there's still more work to be done.
"Will we match thoughts and prayers with action? I say yes, and that's what we're doing here today," Biden said, but he added that more could be done, including passing a national assault weapons ban.
The crowd at the White House for the president's remarks was made up of gun control activists and allies, but not everyone was standing firm with Biden. In the middle of the president's speech, Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed at the Parkland school shooting in 2018, stood up and said Biden needed to do more when it came to action on gun violence.
"We've already gone through this for years and years," Oliver said. He was escorted away from the event afterward.
A majority of Democrats want a different nominee in 2024
The incident at the White House Monday highlights the wider tensions Biden faces from some in his party, especially in a tight midterm elections year.
A poll from the New York Times/Siena College released Monday puts Biden's approval rating at just 33%. And 64% of Democratic voters say they want someone else at the top of the ticket in 2024.
The numbers get worse for Biden among younger voters. For those under the age of 30, 94% said they want a different Democratic nominee in the next presidential election.
Some Democrats say Biden's response has not been urgent enough on Roe and guns
Guns aren't the only topic which Biden has faced criticism for his less-than-urgent response. Some Democrats have said the president needs to show more anger and passion.
"You have a president who — his sales pitch to the country was 'I'm going to get out the way' at a moment where the people who are part of his coalition want him to be front and center," Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist, told NPR.
In the days and weeks after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, for example, Biden's response was more muted. He faced pressure from Senate Democrats to take more immediate action.
"We can't wait days or weeks to get action for people who today need this kind of care, are sitting in their homes scared to death, worried about their own health, worried about their own economic situation, wondering what the heck they can do. Every day that goes by is one day too many," Washington Sen. Patty Murray told NPR the day after the court's decision.
It wasn't until the week after the decision that Biden said he'd support abolishing the filibuster in the Senate in order to codify Roe. And it took another week for the president to sign an executive order protecting reproductive rights.
Payne says the drawn out response from the White House was not the best move.
"It feels like you're flat-footed because it's being delivered in a staggered fashion over the course of 10 to 14 days," he said.
9(MDAxODcyMTgzMDEyMTgxMTY5NjYxN2I4OQ004))
Transcript
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President Biden has been hitting the reset button a lot lately. Today, he held a second ceremony celebrating the new bipartisan gun control bill. As NPR's Scott Detrow reports from the White House, the event gave Biden a chance to tout an accomplishment that got overshadowed, but also a chance to change his tone on a key issue.
SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: So the White House has music playing, and it's all the signs of a big bill signing, with activists, with lawmakers, with allies, with all the people who worked to get this bill together. Of course, the strange thing here is that this bill was already signed into law.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Good morning, everyone.
DETROW: When Biden signed this bill, it was quickly overtaken by other events. It was a Saturday morning, about 24 hours after the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade and just before Biden flew to Europe for a major NATO summit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: I've been at this work for a long, long time. And I know how hard it is, and I know what it takes to get it done.
DETROW: Today, Biden gave it another go.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: Will we match thoughts and prayers with action? I say yes, and that's what we're doing here today.
DETROW: But even as Biden praised the new law, the first bipartisan gun law in a generation, he said it wasn't enough. Biden called for more, including a new federal assault weapons ban.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: That's what we owe those families in Buffalo, where a grocery store became a killing field. It's what we owe those families in Uvalde, where an elementary school became a killing field. That's what we owe those families in Highland Park, where, on July Fourth, a parade became a killing field.
DETROW: The more forceful message was, in part, a response to criticism Biden took after the July 4 mass shootings in Highland Park, Ill. Biden only made a glancing mention of it that day and said, quote, "things will get better still because of the new law and other efforts." Democrats wanted more passion, more anger from Biden. Democratic strategist Joel Payne says it's tough since the president ran on restoring normalcy and governing only to preside over crisis after crisis.
JOEL PAYNE: And you have a president who - his sales pitch to the country was, I'm going to get out the way, at a moment where the people who are part of his coalition want him to be front and center.
DETROW: On Roe v. Wade, Democrats were also frustrated with Biden's first response - brief formal remarks and vague executive promises.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BIDEN: It's not hyperbole to suggest a very solemn moment.
DETROW: Over the next two weeks, Biden called for a change to filibuster rules and issued more specific orders. Payne says it was a mistake to draw the response out.
PAYNE: That would have been received so much differently. But it feels like you're flat-footed because it's being delivered in a staggered fashion over the course of 10 to 14 days.
DETROW: On Friday, Biden hit reset, delivering much more forceful remarks. Today, the same on guns. And in a moment where polls show Democratic frustration with Biden, it was clear the event was an attempt to boost his image, too. Here's Vice President Harris.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: We would not be here were it not for the vision, the courage, the unwavering determination of one particular individual - Joe Biden.
DETROW: And the White House made sure to pack the audience with allies from all corners of the party, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who many Biden critics have held up as an example of a Democrat who's better meeting the tone of the current political moment. Still, the event revealed the tensions Biden faces won't go away anytime soon. As he hailed the new gun law, an invited guest stood up and heckled him - a parent of a student killed in Parkland. He told the president the new law doesn't do enough to save more lives. Scott Detrow, NPR News, the White House. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad