President Joe Biden appears to be moving slightly to the right ahead of the 2024 election when it comes to crime and immigration.
Biden, who's expected to launch a reelection bid, has been attacked by Republicans on both issues during his first two years in office.
Last week, though, the president said he disagreed with the Washington, D.C., Council's proposal to lower penalties for some violent offenses.
"I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule — but I don't support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor's objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings," Biden tweeted Thursday. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I'll sign it."
Although the statement upset many Democrats, it pleased centrists and Republicans.
GOP lawmakers want to overturn D.C.'s crime legislation, which would have reduced penalties for murders, carjackings, armed robberies, armed home invasions, and sexual assault offenses, the Washington Examiner reported.
Biden's statement was more in line with his pre-presidency reputation on crime. He was the key lawmaker behind the 1994 crime bill signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton.
In terms of immigration, Biden also might be shifting slightly to the right.
The New York Times reported Monday that the Biden administration is considering reviving the practice of detaining migrant families who cross the border illegally.
Biden ended that policy, which was enforced under then-President Donald Trump, upon taking office. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama also implemented the policy.
The White House called the Times report "rumors" but did not refute them.
With Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that required immigrants to be turned away, expiring on May 11, at least one Democrat strategist said a change on immigration could be a smart political play for Biden.
"You don't make progress in Washington by pulling away from or antagonizing the opposition, especially when they're the party in control of the House," said Tom Cochran, a partner at 720 Strategies, the Examiner reported.
"Everything comes with a cost, and not picking these battles allows Biden to wage other ones he, and the administration, may deem more broadly impactful."
Moving to the right on immigration would anger progressives and potentially show Biden as a hypocrite. After all, he criticized detention during the 2020 campaign.
Nevertheless, it could be a smart move for a Democrat seeking reelection.
"The president has been in Washington for a really long time and knows that you have to give a little to get a little," Cochran told the Examiner. "There will be future closed-door conversations where he'll ask for returning favors and compromises."
Polling taken just before the midterms found that immigration and violent crime were priorities for three-fourths of Republican voters but less than half of Democrats, the Examiner reported.
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