Biden: Trump administration ‘didn’t do a damn thing’ on infrastructure – live | US news

Joe Biden got the chance to test-drive the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning after delivering remarks at the Michigan plant where the pick-up truck is manufactured.

White House pool reporters spotted the president behind the wheel as the trucker sped through the Ford testing site near the Dearborn facility.

“This sucker’s quick,” Biden told reporters as he came to a stop near them.

The president noted the car can go from 0 to 60 mph in about 4.4 seconds. When Biden asked for clarification on the statistic from a Ford representative, the man said the exact number wasn’t supposed to be public until the official reveal tomorrow, but he laughed that off.

A reporter asked Biden if he could answer a question on Israel while he was stopped. The president replied, “No, you can’t. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I’m only teasing.”

House speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized minority leader Kevin McCarthy for his refusal to back the 6 January commission bill even though a Republican congressman helped craft it.

“Democrats made repeated efforts to seek a bipartisan compromise. But Leader McCarthy won’t take yes for an answer,” the Democratic speaker said in a statement today.

“In his February 22 letter, he made three requests to be addressed in Democrats’ discussion draft. Every single one was granted by Democrats, yet he still says no.”

Pelosi added, “The American people expect and deserve the truth about what happened on January 6th in a manner that strengthens our Democracy and ensures that January 6th never happens again.”

The House is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow, and it is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled chamber, but it still faces many hurdles in the Senate.

Back in Washington, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said Republicans are “undecided” on whether to support the bipartisan bill to form a September 11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection.

“If it’s gonna go forward, it needs to be clearly balanced and not tilted one way or the other, so we have an objective evaluation,” McConnell said at a press conference on Capitol Hill.

“So I think it’s safe for you to report that we are undecided about the way forward at this point. We want to read the fine print, and if the majority leader puts it on the floor, we’ll react accordingly.”

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy announced earlier today that he will oppose the bill, even though Republican congressman John Katko helped negotiate it.

The bill is still expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House tomorrow, but it’s unclear whether it can make it through the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans will determine its fate.

Joe Biden chatted with employees of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center after wrapping up his remarks on the need to improve America’s infrastructure.

The president could be seen exchanging some laughs and fist bumps with the autoworkers at the plant, which is manufacturing the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning.

Joe Biden concluded his remarks at the Ford plant by emphasizing that inaction is not an option when it comes to improving America’s infrastructure.

“The world is not waiting,” Biden said. “The future will be built right here in America.”

The president said that he expects to hear more details about the Republican counterproposal on infrastructure either today or tomorrow.

Biden has previously indicated he is willing to move forward on parts of his infrastructure plan with or without Republican support.

He told MSNBC last week, “I want to know what can we agree on, and let’s see if we can get an agreement to kickstart this, and then fight over what’s left, and see if I can get it done without Republicans if need be.”

Joe Biden described his proposal to invest $174bn in electric car manufacturing as an urgent foreign policy need because of China’s current success in the sector.

“They think they’re going to win,” Biden said of China. “But I got news for them. They will not win this race.”

The president also took a swipe at his predecessor, criticizing the Trump administration for not passing an infrastructure bill despite repeatedly announcing “infrastructure week”.

“They announced infrastructure week,” Biden said. “And they announced it and announced it and announced it and announced it. Every week for four years, didn’t do a damn thing.”

The president’s remarks at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, come as his administration continues negotiations with lawmakers of both parties over Biden’s $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan.

Joe Biden is now delivering remarks to promote his infrastructure plan and his proposed investment in electric car manufacturing at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.

“My name is Joe Biden, and I’m a car guy,” the president said to kick off his speech.

Biden thanked the Michigan lawmakers who welcomed him to the state, including Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The president applauded Whitmer’s courage and intelligence, and he said he would assist her in whatever way he could with her reelection race next year.

“I’ll come campaign for you or against you, whichever would help the most,” Biden joked.

The president also applauded the work of Rashida Tlaib, the progressive congresswoman who has recently criticized the Biden administration’s response to the violence in Gaza.

“I admire your intellect, I admire your passion and I admire your concern for so many people,” Biden told Tlaib, adding that he was sending his best wishes to the congresswoman’s grandmother, who lives in the West Bank.

Joe Biden is about to deliver remarks on the need to invest in electric car manufacturing at a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

The president has just wrapped up a tour of the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, where the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning will be manufactured.

As plant workers explained how the electric trucks come off the assembly line, Biden could be heard saying, “I’ll be damned.”

House speaker Nancy Pelosi has joined Joe Biden and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer in calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“Israel is our friend and ally in the Middle East with whom we have shared values. It is in the U.S. national security interest to support security in Israel,” the Democratic speaker said in a new statement.

“Hamas exploited a volatile situation to initiate hostilities against Israel, launching more than 3,000 rockets, and as always, Israel has a right to defend herself.

“Now, after more than a week of hostilities, it has become even more apparent that a ceasefire is necessary. There must be a serious effort on the part of both parties to end the violence and respect the rights of both the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

Pelosi’s statement comes a day after Biden indicated his support for a ceasefire in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the US president stopped short of demanding an immediate end to the violence.

Asked about Biden’s stance earlier today, the White House press secretary said, “He’s been doing this long enough to know that the best way to end an international conflict is typically not to debate it in public.”

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Joe Biden has arrived in Michigan to tour a Ford electric car facility. The president’s trip to the Dearborn plant is meant to promote his infrastructure plan, but local groups have organized protests in response to Biden’s visit due to his response to the Israeli and Hamas attacks in Gaza, which have killed more than 200 people.
• House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said he will oppose the bipartisan bill to form a September 11-style commission to study the Capitol insurrection. Republican congressman John Katko negotiated the bill and helped secure many of the party’s demands for the legislation, but McCarthy claimed the proposal was still insufficient. The bill is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House tomorrow, but its fate in the evenly divided Senate remains unclear.
• A North Carolina district attorney said sheriff’s deputies were justified in their fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr, a Black man. District attorney Andrew Womble said the deputies had to fire at Brown because he tried to drive his car at one of the officers. However, lawyers for Brown’s family have claimed the car was stationary when the deputies started shooting. Brown’s death last month sparked protests in North Carolina.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

A district attorney in North Carolina has concluded that sheriff’s deputies were justified in their actions last month, when they shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr, a Black man.

The AP reports:

District Attorney Andrew Womble said Andrew Brown Jr.‘s actions caused deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force. Brown ignored deputies’ commands to stop and began to drive his car directly at one of the officers, Womble told a news conference.

He said the first shot fired at Brown’s car went through the front windshield, not the back as was previously reported.

Deputies attempting to serve drug-related search and arrest warrants shot and killed Brown outside his Elizabeth City home on April 21. Three deputies involved in the shooting remain on leave, while four others who were at the scene were reinstated after the sheriff said they didn’t fire their weapons.

Lawyers for Brown’s family have previously said that his car was stationary when the deputies started shooting. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into Brown’s death, which sparked protests last month.

Joe Biden has arrived in Detroit, where he was greeted by two Michigan lawmakers, congresswomen Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib.

The president was seen speaking to Tlaib for a few minutes after exiting Air Force One, according to a White House pool report. Asked what they discussed with the president, Dingell said, “A lot of things.” Tlaib did not respond.

The trio may have been talking about Tlaib’s forceful criticism of the administration’s response to the recent violence in Gaza, which has killed more than 200 people, most of whom were Palestinian.

Tlaib tweeted at Biden and secretary of state Antony Blinken yesterday, “If you support a cease-fire, then get out of the way of the U.N. Security Council and join other countries in demanding it.”

Referring to the Israeli prime minister, Tlaib added, “Apartheid-in-chief Netanyahu will not listen to anyone asking nicely. He commits war crimes and openly violates international law.”

During his call with Netanyahu yesterday, Biden indicated his support for a ceasefire in Gaza, but he avoided explicitly demanding an immediate end to the violence.

Peter Beaumont and Quique Kierszenbaum report:

Israeli television stations are providing security for some of their highest-profile reporters after physical attacks and death threats from far-right Jewish extremists.

According to reports in the Israeli media, the N12 channel has provided security details for four of its on-air reporters: Dana Weiss, Guy Peleg, Yonit Levi and Rina Mazliah, after a rise in online threats against them amid recent intercommunal violence.

Police have arrested one suspect in connection with threats against Weiss.

Reporters from Channel 12, Kan news and Channel 13 have been physically attacked in recent days after rightwing extremists took to the streets to target Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin in various locations.

Among them was Ayala Hasson, a journalist and presenter who was part of a TV crew assaulted in Lod with rocks last week by a group from the far-right Jewish La Familia. “La Familia wanted to smash his camera and they threw a rock the size of a boulder at me, the soundman protected me,” she said.