Joe Biden talks gun control with Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the Constitution’

The President blamed the lack of any progress on gun safety on intimidation by the gun lobby

President Joe Biden appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday (8 June) night and spoke about a range of issues, including gun control laws in the US.

The 46th President blamed the lack of any progress on gun safety on intimidation by the gun lobby, as he called on voters to make it a deciding issue come November during his first in-person appearance on a late-night talk show.

Mr Biden, who is a Democrat, told Kimmel that the National Rifle Association has bullied Republicans into thinking that if they vote for the rational gun policy, they are going to be primaried.

He added that he is considering additional executive orders related to the issue but doesn’t want to emulate his predecessor’s (Donald Trump) use of the non-legislative strategy, calling it an “abuse of the Constitution”.

Mr Biden explained to Kimmel that he has issued executive orders “within the power of the presidency” regarding guns.

“But what I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution,” the President told Kimmel. “I often get asked, ‘look the Republicans don’t play it square, why do you play it square?’ Well, guess what? If we do the same thing they do, our democracy will literally be in jeopardy.”

Kimmel responded to Mr Biden by saying: “It’s like you’re playing Monopoly with somebody who won’t pass go or won’t follow any of the rules, and how do you ever make any progress if they’re not following the rules.”

“You’ve got to send them to jail,” Mr Biden joked.

Kimmel announced the news of Mr Biden appearing on his show on Sunday (6 June).

Mr Biden’s sagging approval ratings and apparently inability to appear as if he’s having a positive impact on the myriad problems affecting the country has left both him and his closest confidantes frustrated amid extremely low morale in the West Wing.

According to Politico, Mr Biden and his aides have found themselves “either limited or helpless” to “combat the forces pummelling them,” including inflation, rising gas and diesel fuel prices, a rash of mass shootings that Congress appears unwilling to address, and Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine.

Mr Biden and his inner circle reportedly fear his term is increasingly looking more and more like that of Jimmy Carter, the last Democratic president to serve a single term after becoming mired in stagflation, brought about in part by the Arab-led oil embargo, and foreign policy disasters such as the Iran hostage crisis.

The president is also reportedly upset at his aides’ tendency to cloister him by limiting his public appearances. While Mr Biden’s slim public schedule was once justified by the need to demonstrate best practices amid a pandemic, plans are afoot in the West Wing for the president to hit the road with a series of public appearances, starting with a trip to California for this year’s Summit of the Americas.

Additional reporting by outlets