Biden spoke about the constant support of Ukraine by Democratic leaders

US President Joe Biden met with Democratic leaders at the White House on Tuesday, where he announced continued support for Ukraine, while Republicans expressed opposition to such assistance.

“Let’s talk again about continuing our support for Ukraine. It’s an idea that has bipartisan support,” Biden said, showing no dismay at statements by some Republican leaders who have promised to limit aid to Kyiv after they regain control of the House of Representatives. , representatives in the November midterm elections.

Continuing to talk about foreign policy, Biden told Democratic leaders that his administration “united the West in a way that hasn’t been done for some time, including uniting Japan and other Asian countries committed to Ukraine’s future.”

Biden’s meeting with Congressional Democratic leaders comes at a time when the executive branch is facing difficulties on multiple fronts, such as the debt ceiling crisis, Russia’s war in Ukraine, his own party’s priorities against the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. controversy over confidential documents found in the president’s mansion.

One of the topics that dominated the meeting was the economy, with Biden saying he “won’t let the Republicans destroy the economy” in the United States.

“I’m excited we have a strong group of leaders here, a fresh start and a new Congress. And I’m delighted with the leadership we have on the side of the Democratic Party. we still have a lot to do. And we have already made some progress. “Really in the economy, in inflation and in some other things,” the head of state began.

“We also want to talk about the extreme economic plans of the Republicans. Apparently they’re really serious about cutting welfare, cutting [sistema público de seguros de saúde]. (…) But I do not intend to let the Republicans destroy our economy, nor does anyone at this table, in my opinion, ”he added.

Joe Biden also took advantage of the meeting to urge Congress to pass a bill to ban semi-automatic weapons in the wake of California’s record mass shootings.

“Our hearts go out to the people of California. It was a hard, hard day. (…) Senator Dianne Feinstein is re-represented in the Senate. [o projeto de lei de] ban on semi-automatic weapons. And I encourage everyone to send this to my desk as soon as possible. This is really very necessary,” the head of state said.

The president had long and vainly asked for a reinstatement of the U.S. semi-automatic ban, as happened between 1994 and 2004, but he faced opposition from the Republican Party, who defended the constitutional right to own guns.

In recent days, the United States has again been rocked by several massacres that have killed at least 19 people in the state of California alone.

Between Saturday night and Monday night, three mass shootings were reported in California: 11 people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a dance studio in Monterey Park, near Los Angeles; seven people died at two farms in the Half Moon Bay area near San Francisco; one person was killed and seven injured in a shootout in Oakland.

So far, more mass shootings have been recorded in 2023 than in any other year given the same time period, according to CNN.