共和国总统乔·拜登周四举行了他的第一次正式新闻发布会——比他的前15任前任晚了很多，这次发布会看起来有很大的不同，因为新冠肺炎大流行。
虽然以前的新闻发布会上挤满了白宫记者团，但拜登的记者在白宫东厅只有30名记者保持社交距离。
他首先宣布，在上周第58天通过了1亿剂疫苗的最初目标后，他现在设定了一个新的目标，即在上任的第一个100天结束前接种2亿剂疫苗。
埃文·武奇/美联社
2021年3月25日，乔·拜登总统在白宫东厅的新闻发布会上发言。
在拜登兜售他的1.9万亿美元COVID救助计划的好处和帮助经济复苏的进展之后，他面临着越来越多的挑战，这些挑战使他失去了宣传立法胜利的注意力，包括南部边境的移民潮，以及共和党对他的移民改革、枪支管制和投票权政治议程的广泛反对。
当被问及是否会被阻止兑现竞选承诺时，拜登回答说:“我当选是为了解决问题。”“有很多问题，”他说，但他认为其他问题是“长期问题”，而他需要将所有最初的注意力放在应对大流行和经济后果上。
“我想我的共和党同事们将不得不决定我们是否想一起工作，或者决定他们想采取的方式是——只是决定分裂这个国家，继续分裂的政治，但我不会这样做。拜登说:“我只是要向前迈进，顺其自然。
拜登称流动儿童设施“完全不可接受”
美国海关和边境保护局一直在努力应对无人陪伴的未成年人涌入预计在未来几个月内，越境人数将会增加，新闻媒体进入收容儿童的设施受到极大限制和严格控制。
当被问及他和他的政府的信息是否导致移民激增时，拜登反驳说，移民每年都会涌入。他还认为，当前的许多问题是由前总统唐纳德·特朗普的失败引起的。
拜登说:“所以我们现在正在做的是试图重建，重建能够适应今天发生的事情的系统。”“我想这是因为我是个好人，但这不是，这是因为每年发生的事情。
美国广播公司首席新闻记者塞西莉亚·维加(Cecilia Vega)就美国边境设施中关押移民儿童的条件向拜登施压，特别是在德克萨斯州唐娜的一个设施中。本周早些时候发布的该设施的图像显示了过度拥挤的情况。
“有些孩子睡在地板上。它们被装进这些豆荚里。我和律师谈过，他们说，这些孩子中的一些已经几天没见太阳了。你对从那个特殊的设施里出来的这些图像有什么反应?你能接受里面发生的事情吗?这个什么时候能修好?”维嘉问。
拜登称这些条件“完全不可接受”。
“这就是为什么我们要迅速转移一千个孩子。这就是我打开极乐堡的原因。这就是为什么我从事情开始的那一刻起就一直在努力寻找额外的途径，让儿童能够安全地生活，不仅仅是儿童，尤其是儿童，能够安全地被安置在家里，同时我们会跟进接下来发生的事情，”拜登说。
拜登还承诺保持透明，并允许进入这些设施，但他表示，他没有透露何时何地允许记者和摄像机进入。
他在处理枪支管制时回避了
此外，还有人问及枪支管制这个充满政治色彩的问题亚特兰大的大规模枪击事件上周造成8人死亡，10人在一场在杂货店开枪周一在科罗拉多州的博尔德。
拜登呼吁国会采取行动，但尚未提出自己的枪支管制立法——尽管竞选团队承诺在他上任的第一天向国会提交一项法案，废除对枪支制造商的责任保护，并堵塞背景调查漏洞。
当被问及何时提出他承诺的改革时，他回避了，说“请继续关注”，并补充说，这个答案也适用于他议程上的其他关键项目，他说基础设施是他的下一个优先事项。
“这是一个时机问题，”他说。“正如你们所观察到的，比我更成功的总统之所以成功，很大程度上是因为他们知道如何对自己所做的事情进行计时。点吧。优先决定需要做什么。”
埃文·武奇/美联社
2021年3月25日，乔·拜登总统在白宫东厅的新闻发布会上发言。
超越他的“谈论阻挠议事”的提议?
拜登首次暗示，如果他无法在陷入僵局的参议院获得任何议程，他可能会开放，不仅仅是恢复“谈话阻挠议案”，这与他之前的评论相反，他在评论中吹嘘自己在参议院的交易能力经验。
拜登说:“如果我们不得不这样做，如果阻挠议事导致完全封锁和混乱，那么我们必须超越我所说的。”
拜登说，目前的阻挠议事“正在被以一种巨大的方式滥用”。
“以前你必须站在那里，不停地说啊说，说啊说，直到崩溃。你猜怎么着?人们厌倦了说话，厌倦了崩溃。阻挠议事行为被打破，我们能够打破阻挠议事，获得法定人数，并投票，”拜登说。
共和党已经对拜登的言论进行了回击。参议员本·萨塞(Ben Sasse)在拜登新闻发布会后几分钟内发表了一份声明。
萨塞在一份声明中说:“拜登参议员是阻挠议事的无情捍卫者——但现在拜登总统照照镜子，看到了罗斯福，他将敞开大门，进行彻底的180度轰炸，摧毁他花了40年捍卫的机构。”“当他无数次这样总结时，他是对的:‘参议院不应该轻率地改变其规则来满足意志坚强的多数人。"
奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂影像公司
2021年3月25日，乔·拜登总统在他任期内的第一次新闻发布会上对记者说。
美国和世界:朝鲜，阿富汗
另一个话题是外交政策。在上任的头两个月，拜登看到了紧张局势升级与俄罗斯和中国，更新导弹测试从朝鲜和迫在眉睫的5月1日截止日期撤出美国军队来自阿富汗。
拜登说，他认为朝鲜是他的首要外交政策问题，针对金正恩本周挑衅性的导弹发射，他说，他正在与盟友合作做出回应。他说，他对与平壤的外交持开放态度，只要这导致朝鲜半岛无核化。
关于美国军队是否以及何时离开阿富汗，他说，很难在特朗普总统同意的5月1日最后期限之前撤出他们，但他指出，“他无意在那里呆很长时间。”
拜登说:“答案是，很难在5月1日的最后期限前完成任务，仅仅从战术上来说，很难让这些部队撤出。”但他补充说，他不指望他们明年还会在那里。
称共和党限制投票权的努力“卑鄙”
记者们问拜登共和党领导的州立法机构颁布新的投票规则，这可能会使包括少数族裔和年轻选民在内的一些群体更难在2022年中期选举前投票。
“我担心的是这整个计划有多不美国。恶心，恶心。在一些州决定不能给排队等候投票的人送水?当工作的人刚下班时，你决定在5点结束投票?决定在最严格的情况下不进行缺席投票?”拜登说。“都是设计出来的。”
拜登说，即使是共和党选民也不同意这些努力，并将它们与吉姆·克劳的法律进行了比较，强调他将尽“一切努力”阻止这些提议成为法律。
“我认识的共和党选民觉得这个卑鄙的共和党选民。白宫外的人们。我说的不是民选官员，我说的是选民。所以，我相信我们能够阻止这一切，因为这是最有害的事情。这让吉姆·克劳看起来像吉姆·老鹰，”拜登说。“我的意思是，这是巨大的，他们试图做的，它不能持续。”
他会竞选连任吗?
拜登还被问及是否会在2024年竞选连任。
“我的计划是竞选连任，”拜登说。“那是我的期望。”
他回避了关于他是否认为自己可能再次与特朗普竞选的问题，并表示他“甚至没有想过这一点”。但他确实回答了副总统贺锦丽是否会在2024年成为他的竞选伙伴的问题。
拜登说:“我完全相信会是这样。”。“她做得很好。她是个很棒的搭档。”
Biden holds 1st formal news conference, faces questions on agenda, migrant surge
PresidentJoe Bidenheld his first formal news conference Thursday -- much later than his last 15 predecessors and one that looked sharply different because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
While previous news conferences saw rooms packed with the White House press corps, Biden's had only 30 reporters socially distanced in the White House East Room.
He began by announcing he's now set a new goal of 200 million vaccine doses by the end of his first 100 days in office, after passing his original goal of 100 million doses last week on Day 58.
After Biden touted the benefits of his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan and advances in helping the economy recover, he faced immediate questions about the growing challenges that have taken focus away from his effort to sell his legislative victory, including the migrant surge at the southern border, and the broad Republican opposition to his political agenda on immigration reform, gun control and voting rights.
"I got elected to solve problems," Biden responded when asked whether he would be blocked from keeping his campaign promises. "There are a lot of problems," he said, but he argued those other issues were "long-term problems" while he needed to put all his initial focus on dealing with the pandemic and the economic fallout.
"I think my Republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to work together or decide that the way in which they want to proceed is to -- is to just decide to divide the country, continue the politics of division, but I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to move forward and take these things as they come," Biden said.
Biden calls migrant child facilities 'totally unacceptable'
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has struggled to handle theinflux of unaccompanied minorscrossing the border, which is only expected to increase in coming months, and news media access to the facilities housing children has been extremely limited and tightly controlled.
When asked whether his and his administration's messaging was leading to the migrant surge, Biden pushed back, saying the influx happens every year. He also contended many of the current problems were prompted by the failures of former President Donald Trump.
"So what we're doing now is attempting to rebuild, rebuild the system that can accommodate what is happening today," Biden said. "And I'd like to think it's because I'm a nice guy, but it's not, it's because of what's happened every year.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed Biden on the conditions for migrant children being held in U.S. border facilities, particularly at a one in Donna, Texas. Images from that facility released earlier this week showed the overcrowding.
"There are kids that are sleeping on floors. They are packed into these pods. I've spoken to lawyers who say that they, some of these children have not seen the sun in days. What is your reaction to these images that have come out from that particular facility? Is what's happening inside acceptable to you? And when is this going to be fixed?" Vega asked.
Biden called the conditions "totally unacceptable."
"That's why we're going to be moving a thousand of those kids out quickly. That's why I got Fort Bliss opened up. That's why I've been working from the moment this started to happen to try to find additional access for children to be able to safely, not just children, but particularly children, to be able to safely be housed while we follow through on the rest of what's happening," Biden said.
Biden also committed to transparency and access to the facilities, though he said he did not say when and where he would allow in reporters and cameras.
He sidesteps on when he'll tackle gun control
Also asked about was the politically fraught issue of gun control, aftera mass shooting in Atlantaleft eight people dead last week and 10 were killed during ashooting in a grocery storein Boulder, Colorado, on Monday.
Biden has called on Congress to take action, but has yet to put forward his own legislation on gun control -- despite a campaign pledge to send a bill to Congress on his first day in office to repeal liability protections for gun manufacturers and close background check loopholes.
When asked when he would propose his promised reforms, he sidestepped, saying, "stay tuned," adding that answer applied to other key items on his agenda as well, saying infrastructure was his next priority.
"It's a matter of timing," he said. "As you've all observed, successful presidents better than me have been successful in large part because they know how to time what they're doing. Order it. Decide in priorities what needs to be done."
Going 'beyond' his 'talking filibuster' proposal?
Biden suggested for the first time he might be open to going beyond just reinstating the "talking filibuster" if he is unable to get any of his agenda through a deadlocked Senate, which is a reversal of his prior comments where he touted his Senate experience with dealmaking abilities.
"If we have to, if there's complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we'll have to go beyond what I'm talking about," Biden said.
Biden said the current filibuster is "being abused in a gigantic way."
"It used to be you had to stand there and talk and talk and talk and talk until you collapsed. And guess what? People got tired of talking and tired of collapsing. Filibusters broke down and we were able to break the filibuster, get a quorum, and vote," Biden said.
The GOP has already hit back at Biden's comments. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., released a statement within minutes of Biden's news conference.
"Senator Biden was a relentless defender of the filibuster -- but now that President Biden looks in the mirror and sees FDR, he’s keeping the door open for a complete 180 to blow up the institution he spent four decades defending," Sasse said in a statement. "He was right when he summed it up this way numerous times: 'the Senate ought not act rashly by changing its rules to satisfy a strong-willed majority."
America and the world: North Korea, Afghanistan
Another topic that came up was foreign policy. In his first two months in office, Biden has seenescalated tensionswith Russia and China, renewedmissile testsfrom North Korea and a looming May 1 deadline towithdraw U.S. troopsfrom Afghanistan.
Biden said that he views North Korea as his top foreign policy issue, reacting to Kim Jong Un's provocative missile launch this week by saying he was working with allies on a response. He said he is open to diplomacy with Pyongyang, so long as it results in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
On whether and when U.S. forces will leave Afghanistan, he said it will be difficult to withdraw them by the May 1 deadline agreed to by President Trump, but noted it was "not [his] intention to stay there for a long time."
"The answer is that it's going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline, just in terms of tactical reasons, it’s hard to get those troops out," Biden said, but adding he doesn't expect them to still be there net year.
Says GOP efforts to restrict voting rights 'despicable'
Biden was asked by reporters about efforts byRepublican-led state legislaturesto enact new voting rules that may make it harder for some groups, including minority and young voters, to cast their ballot ahead of the 2022 midterms.
"What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick, it's sick. Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote? Deciding that you're going to end voting at 5:00 when working people are just getting off work? Deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances?" Biden said. "It's all designed."
Biden said that even Republican voters disagree with the efforts, and compared them to Jim Crow laws emphasizing he'll do "everything" in his power to prevent the proposals from becoming law.
"The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters. The folks outside this White House. I'm not talking about the elected officials, I'm talking about voters. And so, I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this, because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle," Biden said. "I mean, this is gigantic what they're trying to do and it cannot be sustained."
Will he run for another term?
Biden was also asked whether he'll run for reelection in 2024.
"My plan is to run for reelection," Biden said. "That's my expectation."
He brushed off the questions about whether he thought he might be running against Trump once again saying he "doesn't even think about that." But he did respond to a question about whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be his running mate in 2024.
"I would fully expect that to be the case," Biden said. "She's doing a great job. She's a great partner."
