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Biden jokingly said he would be available to Pence as "senior staff"
Biden vocally campaigned against the Trump/Pence ticket
Vice President Joe Biden offered an olive branch to Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday, meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence and offering his full support as the Indiana governor prepares to move to Washington.
The duo, along with Biden’s wife, Jill, and Pence’s wife, Karen, met for around two hours at the vice president’s residence, having lunch and taking a tour of the home.
After the meeting, Biden jokingly said he would be available to Pence as “senior staff” as he makes his move from Indiana to DC.
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“You can be smart and reject most of my ideas, but I think he will listen to some of them,” Biden said, adding that he told Pence he was available to him 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
While the comments and meeting are part of the standard peaceful transition of power between administrations, they are also a peace offering between the two men.
Biden vocally campaigned against the Trump/Pence ticket, routinely casting Trump as unfit and ill-tempered for the presidency and Pence regularly attacked the Obama administration during his bid to be vice president.
Standing under the portico of the house, Pence declined to answer a question about his biggest concerns moving to Washington and surrounding the new administration.
“We are just very grateful for the hospitality today for the Vice President and the second lady,” Pence said. “Most importantly, I think they made real progress in talking Mrs. Pence into a new dog.”
Biden said Wednesday that he was not concerned about the Trump administration dismantling much of what the Obama administration has done and that Trump’s administration should not expect to be fully prepared on day one.
“No administration is ready on day one. We weren’t ready on day one,” Biden said with a smile.
