Biden wrong to say he'll do 'nothing' differently in future, Dem lawmaker says, urges inflation task force
Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin defeated her GOP challenger Tom Barrett on Tuesday
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Thursday that she disagrees with President Biden's pledge to do "nothing" differently in the next two years of his presidency, calling on the administration to implement an inflation task force to improve voter confidence heading into 2024.
During a press conference at the White House on Wednesday, a reporter asked Biden what he plans to change in the next two years, citing polls that found 75% of voters are unhappy with the direction of the country under his leadership. Biden said he plans to do "nothing" differently, adding, "They're just finding out what we're doing."
Slotkin told Fox News that the president's complacency sends the wrong message to voters who showed that inflation is a top issue in Tuesday's midterm elections. The lawmaker urged the White House to make inflation a top priority for the remainder of Biden's first term.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., speaks during a news conference highlighting the passage of H.R. 1448, the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act in Washington on Thursday, May 13, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"No, I think honestly figuring out how we address inflation has got to be one issue, and I’ve talked about this with some senior levels of the administration, just some sort of inflation task force, some sort of process so we know at the beginning of every press conference, at the begging of every briefing…that our government is focused on that first," she said Thursday on "America Reports."
"That's personally what I would do. I’m not sure that straight nothing was the answer I would have given. But, if the midterms are a referendum on how the president is doing, or at least that’s common wisdom, we certainly had a different result than we were expecting across the country."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawmaker, who won re-election in Michigan's 8th Congressional District after being considered one of the more vulnerable House Democrats seeking re-election, maintained her distance from President Biden throughout her campaign.
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A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. (Erin Kirkland/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When asked in October during an appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press" whether she would support President Biden in 2024 if he sought re-election, Slotkin said she would support "the sitting president" if he chooses to run because that followed precedent. However, she quickly called for new leadership "across the Democratic Party."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pointing to the results of the midterms on Thursday, Slotkin cautioned both Republicans and Democrats against putting up extreme candidates in future elections, arguing that the voters appear to be "kind of over that."
"I think also a lot of extreme candidates were put up around the country, and I just really believe the voters are kind of over that, and they just want practical reasonable people on both sides of the aisle to represent them, and they voted that a couple of days ago," she said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"…At this point, people are just looking for someone who plays in the center and is a pragmatist, they don’t like the extremes on either side of the aisle and I think that’s what we’re starting to see."