Tipsheet

Let the In-Fighting Continue: Biden Delivered Another Blow to the Progressive Community

Beth Baumann
Beth Baumann  |  November 18, 2020 6:45 PM

Progressives voted for former Vice President Joe Biden out of hate for President Donald Trump, not because they were excited about a potential Biden presidency. Now progressives are even more upset with the presumptive president-elect. The reason? They aren't a fan of his cabinet picks.

The Justice Democrats – the progressive group responsible for the rise of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – on Tuesday slammed the Biden Team's "corporate-friendly insiders" like Rep. Cedric Richmond and political aide Steve Ricchetti. Richmond was tapped to be one of Biden's senior advisers and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Ricchetti was named as a White House counselor.

According to the Justice Democrats, both Ricchetti and Richmond's appointments fail to "help usher in the most progressive Democratic administration in generations."

"If Joe Biden continues making corporate-friendly appointments to his White House, he will risk quickly fracturing the hard-earned goodwill his team built with progressives to defeat Donald Trump," the group's executive director, Alexandra Rojas, said in a statement.

The progressive organization takes issue with Richetti being a former pharma lobbyist, where he represented clients who opposed Medicare for All, one of the far Left's biggest pushes.

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The other issue progressives have made a key part of their identity over the last few years: the Green New Deal. According to Justice Democrats, Richmond's appointment hinders that goal when he's "one of the top Democratic recipients of fossil fuel money." He allegedly received $92,000 from oil and gas PACs this year alone.

"Richmond has been aggressively criticized by his own constituents for failing to act on their concerns revolving around industry regulations and the climate crisis," Rojas explained.

Based on what they've seen from the Biden-Harris picks, they feel progressives "should receive adequate representation" in their administration since they make up nearly half of the Democratic Party's seats in the House.

The question is... where will Democrats – and progressives in particular – go from here?