Biden says it is awful that Trump is seeking to do away with US birthright citizenship

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said he thought it was awful that

President-elect Donald Trump

was trying to do away with birthright citizenship in the US.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Jan 5, Mr Biden said the

transition to Trump’s government

seemed to be going smoothly, though he said he thought there was a problem with Trump’s team internally related to the handover.

Asked ahead of the anniversary of the

Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol

whether he still thought Trump was a threat to democracy, Mr Biden said he thought what Trump did was a “genuine threat to democracy”.

Trump falsely claimed he had won the 2020 election and urged his supporters to go to the Capitol that day.

“It should not be rewritten,” Mr Biden said about Jan 6. “I don’t think it should be forgotten.”

Mr Biden also said white supremacy was one of many threats to the US.

“We are the most extensive multicultural nation in the world. It’s the reason why we’re so strong. It’s the reason why we’re who we are,” he added.

Trump told NBC in December he plans to take executive action on his first day in office to try to end birthright citizenship, which confers citizenship on anyone born in the United States regardless of their parents’ immigration status.

“The idea we’re going to change a constitutional birthright – if you’re born in the country... you’re not a citizen? What’s going on?“ Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden, a Democrat, criticised Trump, a Republican, for encouraging lawmakers not to vote for a bipartisan immigration Bill he supported to strengthen border enforcement.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous,” he said.

Trump used immigration as a key issue to rally his base in the 2024 election, which he won, prevailing over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. REUTERS