White House confronted on friendly reception of 'existential threat' Trump: 'We are now in a different place'
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said that President Biden still believes that President-elect Trump is an "existential threat" to democracy.
But when confronted by a reporter about Biden's relative silence on the "threat" he thinks Trump poses since the election, Jean-Pierre replied, "We are now in a different place."
"There was an election and the American people spoke. The will of the American people were very clear," she told reporters at the daily White House press briefing.
Biden met with Trump at the White House last week and committed to a "smooth transition" as the 45th and soon to be 47th president prepares to return to office in January.
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Their cordial meeting stood in stark contrast to the heated rhetoric used before Election Day, when Biden and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris each called Trump a "fascist" and repeatedly warned that American democracy would be in danger if he prevailed.
"Politics is tough and in many cases it's not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today," a smiling Trump said after Biden shook his hand and welcomed him back to the White House.
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Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden's shift in tone reflects an effort to "lead by example" to make sure the peaceful transfer of power takes place.
"He feels like he is obligated. What he said still stands, but we are now in a different place. We are— the American people spoke. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power," she said.
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She reiterated that Biden's beliefs about Trump have "not changed."
Biden's offer to Trump to visit the White House was an invitation he himself was never accorded.
Four years ago, in the wake of his election defeat at the hands of Biden, Trump refused to concede and tried unsuccessfully to overturn the results.
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Breaking with long-standing tradition, Trump didn't invite Biden to the White House. And two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden's Electoral College victory, Trump left Washington ahead of the presidential inauguration of his successor, becoming the first sitting president in a century and a half to skip out on a successor's inauguration.
The meeting was the first between Biden and Trump since they faced off in Atlanta on June 27 in their one and only debate, a contest most viewers determined Biden decidedly lost. He withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed Harris a month later.
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.