The White House is defending President Joe Biden’s decision to invite President-elect Donald Trump for an Oval Office discussion on the presidential transition process, four years after Trump denied Biden the same courtesy after losing the 2020 election.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily briefing on Tuesday that Biden extended the invitation to Trump because of his reverence for the peaceful transfer of power that has been a hallmark of the American system of government for nearly 250 years.
Asked why he is granting Trump the exact sort of privilege that Biden himself was denied four years ago, Jean-Pierre replied that it was “easy” to answer the question.
“Because he believes in the norms, he believes in our institutions, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.
Jean-Pierre continued by noting that the transfer of power was as important to the American people as it is to Biden himself, citing Biden’s statement last week in which he said that the American people are entitled to it.
“He said: ‘The American people deserve this. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power. They deserve a smooth transition, and that’s what you’re going to see’,” she said, adding that Biden had asked for the meeting, which will take place in the Oval Office on Wednesday morning.
The White House press secretary also told reporters that Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be present for the meeting because her involvement is “not the norm” of such post-election meetings between presidents and presidents-elect.
At the same time, she stressed that Biden is “committed ... to making sure this transition is effective” as well as “efficient.”
“.We want this to to be a process that gets the job done, if you will. And so ... we’re going to do everything that we can,” she said. “The president trusts his team to get that done and do it the best way possible, and that is our commitment.”
She later added that Biden “wants to show the American people that the system works right.”
