US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday said that he was feeling 'very optimistic' over the Georgia Senate runoffs which would decide whether the Democratic Party or the Republican Party would take control of the upper chamber.
"We've got to restore a sense of decency and honor and commitment to one another. We've got to unite this country that's why I'm so excited about the prospects of Jon and the Reverend winning this thing," Biden said in an interview with Kenny Burns on V103 as quoted by CNN.
When asked about the issues that would be advanced if the Democratic candidates were to win the seats in the US upper chamber, Biden said that Congress would be able to pass USD 2,000 stimulus checks faster and provide more funding for vaccine distribution.
"I'm gonna need their help in making sure that we establish thousands of federally run and federal supported community vaccination centres of various sizes across the country, located in high school gyms or NFL football stadiums and we can do that by engaging....FEMA the disaster group and the CDC and the US military and national guard," the President-elect said.
"We can do this but it costs money and the inability of the present Republican leadership and (US President Donald) Trump, in particular, preventing that from being made available to the states it's just almost criminal in my view. and people are dying, people are dying," Biden stated further.
CNN further reported that Biden hit out at the Trump administration over the slow pace of vaccine distribution, saying that "the federal government has done virtually no planning."
The President-elect also talked about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' possible role as a tie-breaking vote if Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoffwin in Georgia.
"When Jon (Jon Ossoff) and the Reverend (Warnock) win, it's a 50-50 tie. You know what that means? The vice president of the United States essentially becomes the majority leader in the United States Senate. She has the vote to break every single tie...so it gives the Democrats 51 votes, her vote, her vote."
He also spoke about how Republican senators in Georgia are pledging "loyalty to Trump, not to the people of Georgia." He praised Republicans like Mitt Romney who he said: "don't want to be part of this Trump Republican Party, this renegade group."
Incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are defending their seats against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The result of the election will determine whether the Republicans or the Democrats will have a majority in the upper chamber of the US Congress.
If both Democratic candidates secure two seats in the Senate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be in a position to cast the tie-breaking vote when necessary. However, if at least one Republican candidate wins re-election, it will be enough for Republicans to retain the majority in the Senate that will allow them to block much of the Democrat's agenda in a split government situation.
( With inputs from ANI )
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