Progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman said President Joe Biden ‘absolutely’ needs to step up – and called on the rest of his party to focus on ‘police accountability’ and the fight for abortion rights – during a Wednesday afternoon interview.
The New York Democratic lawmaker was grilled on CNN about the outlet’s recent report indicating that his colleagues are increasingly unhappy with Biden’s leadership.
He also repeated calls made by his fellow ‘Squad’ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to open up abortion clinics on federal land in states where the procedure is banned – something the administration has shot down on multiple occasions.
Biden’s perceived lack of action in the face of the Supreme Court rolling back privacy rights and increasing gun violence is frustrating his fellow Democrats. CNN quoted one unnamed Democrat lawmaker as complaining that there’s ‘no fight’ in the 79-year-old leader.
‘So first of all, it’s not just President Biden, members of Congress have to step up and fight as well,’ Bowman said while defending his party leader.
‘Congress makes laws. We need Republicans and Democrats to get their act together in Congress, get in a room, and figure out how we’re going to save this country.’
Host Erica Hill pressed the congressman again, ‘But is there also a place where the President needs to step up?’
‘Oh, absolutely,’ Bowman answered.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman joined CNN on Wednesday where he was grilled about a report suggesting his fellow House Democrats are unhappy with President Biden
Going into specifics, Bowman suggested, ‘He should open up abortion clinics on federal land…He needs to absolutely do that.’
‘I appreciate him stepping up and saying that we need to carve out a part of the filibuster so that we could codify Roe v Wade, but we need to talk about getting rid of the filibuster,’ the Democrat continued.
‘I would love to see the president use the bully pulpit more, be out and about among the American people, and create a vision for how we’re going to get out of this mess.’
Continuing to defend Biden, Bowman added that it was ‘on all of us to do the work.’
He said his constituents were ‘pissed off’ at the state of the country and called on every Democrat in Congress and the White House to work together in pushing for a ban on assault weapons, holding up police accountability and passing a law protecting the right to an abortion.
At the tail end of his interview, Hill shot one more question out on his assessment of Democrats’ ‘frustration’ based on CNN’s report – but Bowman was unperturbed.
‘Again, I don’t think it’s on President Biden in and of himself, it’s on us,’ he said.
‘What are we doing to be clear on our message, to be concise with our message, to engage with the American people, and do more around police accountability?’
Progressives are reportedly frustrated at what they perceive to be insufficient leadership across multiple crises, anonymous Democrats told CNN
One of the places Democratic voters have felt let down was over their party’s inability to codify federal abortion protections before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade
He referenced the police killing of Jayland Walker in Akron, Ohio on June 27. Walker was a 25-year-old black man who was unarmed when he was shot running from police after a failed traffic stop.
‘Look at the shooting. Jayland Walker, 60 shots to his body. We need to do more there, and in so many other areas,’ Bowman said.
The lawmaker’s interview comes after an unnamed Democrat criticized the Biden administration as ‘rudderless, aimless and hopeless’ in yet another damning report of turmoil between the US President and his party on Tuesday.
More than 20 Democrats working across Congress and the White House shared private concerns with CNN regarding President Joe Biden’s ability to respond to back-to-back crises that have plagued the country for much of his term – and whether he’s an effective leader of those behind him working to fix it.
Even the president’s allies seem to be frustrated with a ‘lack of action’ as his measures to curb high gas prices and address the baby formula shortage fail to solve either problem.
The report also suggests Biden is taking out that frustration on his aides.
The president is described as having a ‘tendency to berate advisers’ when a situation does not pan out as expected.
That practice having ‘trickled down the ranks in the West Wing’ is suggested as a contributing factor in the slew of recent resignations.
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