Former Trump Adviser: Biden’s Early Priorities Uniting Country Against Him

Former Trump Adviser: Biden’s Early Priorities Uniting Country Against Him
President Donald Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller waves to supporters prior to a Marine One departure from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on Aug. 6, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
1/24/2021
Updated:
1/24/2021

President Joe Biden’s early priorities are uniting the country against him, an adviser to former President Donald Trump said Saturday.

“Does any normal person right now in this country think the top priority is to make sure we don’t deport criminal illegal aliens who’ve committed violent offenses against U.S. citizens?” Stephen Miller, who was for four years an adviser to Trump, said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Watters World.”

Miller also referenced Biden’s executive orders canceling the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and rejoining the Paris Climate Accord.

“Whose priorities are these? They’re the priorities of a narrow group of far-left special interests, who have jobs and wealth and security and who look down on everyday citizens who just want to live a better, safer, healthier life,” Miller asserted.

While Biden promised to unite the country, so far “he’s united Democrats, Republicans, and Independents against his open borders agenda,” Miller added.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during an event on economic crisis in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden signs an executive order as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during an event on economic crisis in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 22, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters after Biden signed a flurry of orders on Inauguration Day that Biden “will govern for all Americans.”

“That, of course, has to be backed up by actions, as you conveyed,” she added. “But he’s going to venture to do that in—in every policy he pursues, every engagement he has, because he feels if we can come together, we’ll be a stronger country.”

Some groups of voters that endorsed Biden have announced opposition to some of the orders signed in his first days in office.

The Laborers’ International Union of North America cheered when Biden won the election. But the union decried Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone pipeline, saying it would “kill thousands of good-paying union jobs.” The United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters also announced opposition to the cancellation.

Biden’s moratorium on new oil leases and drilling permits also drew criticism.

“During his inauguration, President Biden spoke about bringing our nation together. Eliminating drilling on public lands will cost thousands of New Mexicans their jobs and destroy what’s left of our state’s economy,” Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway told The Associated Press. “How does that bring us together? Environmental efforts should be fair and well-researched, not knee-jerk mandates that just hurt an already impoverished state.”