Democrats have reportedly been urging Joe Biden to use executive orders to implement progressive policies, but he said gun control and defunding the police are ''way beyond the bounds.''
In a two-hour virtual meeting Tuesday, civil rights leaders urged him privately to take a slew of executive actions, but Biden tapped the breaks, The Intercept reported.
''So there's some things that I'm going to be able to do by executive order. I'm not going to hesitate to do it, but what I'm not going to do is … I am not going to violate the Constitution,'' he said, the news outlet reported, citing excerpts of which can be heard on its podcast.
''Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds,'' he said.
''I'm not going to exercise executive authority where it's a question, where I can come along and say, 'I can do away with assault weapons.' There's no executive authority to do away that,'' he added.
''We do that, next guy comes along and says, 'Well, guess what? By executive order, I guess everybody can have machine guns again.' So we gotta be careful.''
Biden warned that pressure on the incoming administration around police reform could hurt the party's chances in the Georgia Senate races, claiming the Republicans' ability to define that party as in favor of defunding the police is ''how they beat the living hell out of us across the country,'' The Intercept reported.
Biden insisted his commitment to police reform was unwavering but argued the branding effort had done too much damage — and warned it could sink Democrats' chances in next month's vote in Georgia.
''I just raise it with you to think about how much do we push between now and January 5 — we need those two seats — about police reform,'' Biden said, The Intercept reported. ''But I guarantee you, there will be a full-blown commission. I guarantee you it's a major, major, major element.''
Asked about the audio obtained by The Intercept, a Biden transition official told CNN that "President-elect Biden is the same person behind closed doors that he is in public; honest, direct and realistic about the challenges facing our nation the day he is sworn in.
''The remarks shared in the meeting reflect the same positions he has taken publicly on executive orders and like his predecessors he has the same levers of power to address immediate policy issues within the grounds of the Constitution,'' the transition official told the news outlet.
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