A Look At President Biden's First Year (Guest: Joel Payne)
Joel Payne is a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign as well as a member of the late Senator Harry Reid's staff. He joins Jessica to discuss the Biden administration's first term. President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in last January 20th in the midst of a maelstrom of foreign and domestic challenges - a raging Covid-19 pandemic, a monumental vaccine rollout, a strong conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and a country divided by years of misinformation and disinformation fomented by the chaotic prior administration - and he moved into the Oval Office two weeks to the day after an unprecedented and violent insurrection at the Capitol that left five Americans dead. But Biden also found himself with narrow majorities in both the Senate and the House and managed to pass a groundbreaking infrastructure bill within months. How did Biden navigate his first year in office? And how is he positioned to guide the United States through the ongoing pandemic, the upcoming midterm elections, and a likely run for reelection in 2024?