Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

January 30, 2024

The President. Well, Chris, thank you. And I have to tell you, I'm not going home. [Laughter]

Folks, I want to thank you for chairing the Biden Victory Fund. You're a great friend, traveling all across the country to bring so many folks into the process. And I mean that. We're lucky to have you on the campaign trail with us.

And thanks to all of you for the support you've given us.

I'll start with the simplest message: From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the reason I'm President of the United States. Not hyperbole. You're the reason.

Kamala Harris is aâyou're the reason Kamala Harris is the firstâhistoric Vice President, first woman to be in that position. You're the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former President. And you're the reason we're going to continue to make him a loser again. [*Laughter*]

Folks, in 2020, I ran because I thought this country stood at aâforâeverything I believed in was at stake. I really mean it. I thought it was at risk.

I made a couple speeches I got criticized for, saying I thought our democracy was at stake. I think people thought I was being hyperbolic at the time. "Joe, what do you mean democracy is at risk? What do you mean we're in a battle for the soul of America?" Well, people don't say that anymore.

You know, I don't think anyone today doubts democracy was at risk in 2020. And thank God, because of you and supporters like you, we won.

Just think back to the mess that Donald Trump left this country in: a pandemic that was raging, an economy that was reeling.

Look how far we've come. We vaccinated America to get through that pandemic. Less than 2 million people were vaccinated when we came into office. Today, 270 million Americans have gotten that COVID vaccine.

We created 14 million new jobsânew jobsâmore than any President has in the first termâ to get this economy going strong.

We passed the American Rescue Plan to put $1,400 in people's pockets at the time, who were in real trouble, and $300 checks per child for familiesâof hard-working familiesâwith thousands of dollars in people's pockets through theâwhat was then a real crisis. And that money helped cut child poverty in half.

And we have to do more. Everyone is feeling the consequences of these investments and progressânot everybody is feeling it yet. And yet inflation is now lower in America than in any other country [major economy; White House correction] in the world.

In recent weeks, we're starting to see real evidence that American consumers are beginning to feel confidenceârenewed confidence in the economy we're building. Just this morning we learned that consumer confidence surged to its highest level in 2 years.

The Washington Post headline from this weekend is falling inflationârising growth in U.S. gives world the bestâgives U.S. the best recovery in the world.

Look, let me tell you who else is noticing: Donald Trump. He recently said, "When the crash occurs, I hope it's in the next 12 months." "When the crash occurs, I hope it's in the next 12 months." It's unbelievable. It's un-American. How can a former President or anyone say that an economic crash that would devastate millions of people is a good thing?

Here's what he really means: Donald Trump knows the economy we've built is strong and getting stronger. And he knows that, while it's good for America, it's bad for him politically.

Trump also said one of theâone President does notâhe said, "I'm the one guy that doesn't want to be a Herbert Hoover." Well, I've got news for himâbad news. He's already Herbert Hoover. [*Laughter*] The only President other than Donald Trump that lost jobs during an administration was Herbert Hoover. So Donald "Herbert Hoover" Trump isâ[*laughter*]âis moving right along.

Folks, I promised we'd beat Big Pharma. You know, they charge more for prescription drugs in America than they do anywhere else in the world. You have a prescriptionâthe same exact prescription taken to a drug store here, I take you to one in Toronto, Berlin, anywhere around the world, and it's somewhere between 60- and 40-percent less.

We said we'd beat them, and we did. Thirty-five-dollar-a-month insulin for seniors with diabetes instead of $400 a month. We tried to make it 35 bucks a month for everyone because it only costs 10 bucks to make and the total packaging cost 13 bucks. And they're still making a significant progress [profit; White House correction]. But our Republican colleagues pushed back on everybody having it. But with your vote in 2024, we're going to make it available to everyone.

Out-of-pocket costs for seniors for prescription drugs, beginning in 2024 [2025; White House correction], are capped at $2,000 a year, no matter how big they are. You all know somebody who is taking a cancer drug. It could be $12-, $15-, $16,000. Well, it's going to be capped at $2,000 maximum. And it matters.

I promised we'd help ease the accumulated student debt in America that Americans carried during this economic crisis and pandemic. The Supreme Court blocked me, but it didn't stop me. I found another way, a legal way, to do it. That is threeâ3.7 million people, $130 billion relief and counting.

Here's what we did. We went back and fixed what's called the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which was designed to help public servantsâlike teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workersâget their student loans forgiven. If they make 10 years of payments without miss and they're involved in public service, they get their debt forgiven.

By the time I took office, the program had been in place nearly 15 years. Behind redâ because of redtape, only 7,000 borrowers had been helped. Thanks toâtoday, we have 700,000 borrowers helped. And guess what? It's growing the economy. They're out buying homes. They're out paying their debts. They're out doing things that make a difference.

And all of you here in Florida knew how lucky America would be when I kept my promise to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson of Miami, Floridaâshe's making us proud.

And by the way, I've appointed more Black women to the Federal appeals courts than every other President in American History combinedâevery single one combined. All told, we've gotten 171 Federal judges confirmed, and two-thirds of them are women. [*Laughter*] Well, it's real simple. I got it right. All the women in my family are smarter than all the men, so I figure. [*Laughter*]

Look, the fact is that we have a lot more work to do, but I've never been more optimistic about our future. I mean it.

An example: Thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure law that I signed, there are 40,000 infrastructure projects all across America.

How in God's name can we be the most important country in the world, the most economically prosperous, and be ranked number 14 in infrastructure? It's not possible.

We're rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports. And we're bringing affordable high-speed internet everywhere in America; ripping out every poisonous lead pipe that exists so every child in America can turn on a faucet and drink it without having any brain damage.

We passed the most significant gun safety law in decades. And I will not stop until I once again ban assault weapons in this country.

We're saving the planet with the most significant investment in climate change ever, anywhere in the history of the world. We've tripled sales of electric vehicles, built a national network of 50,000 [500,000; White House correction] EV charging stations, put on a path to carbon emissionsâto reduce by 50 percent by 2030. I could go on, but you're standing. [*Laughter*]

Now imagine the nightmare if Trump returned to office.

At a recent deadly school shooting in Perry, Iowa, three people died, including one sixth grader and the school principal. You know what Trump said? It's hard to believe he said it, but he said it. You've just got to "get over it." You've just got to "get over it."

I'm not going to get over it. I'm going to stop it. I'm going to stop it.

Trump and his MAGA friends want to repeal the historic climate legislation. Maybe they don't think climate is a real problem, but the rest of us know it is.

I've spent more time traveling the worldâtraveling the United States in the 3 years, looking at the forest that had been burned to the ground and is equivalent to the entire State of Maryland, burned to the ground. Now afterâand you see what the rising tides are doing. You see what's happening here in Florida. And we're trying. And we're trying.

Failing more than 60 timesâyou know, look, how can IâI want to beâI don't want to lose my temper here and say something I shouldn't. After trying and failing more than 60 times, Trump and his MAGA friends are promising to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, the only law that exists for people of modest means to be able to get insurance and not be denied because of preexisting condition. And they want to take that away.

Seniors here in Florida and all across America should know this: Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to take away the $35-a-month insulin payment and make it no longer the law, as well as the $2,000 cap on all prescription drugs.

Instead of saving Social Security and Medicare, Trump and his MAGA friends want to give another massive multibillion-dollar tax cut and not pay for it at all.

Look, you know, Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away your freedom as well. Today, they're attacking voting rightsâvoting rights all across the country.

And now Trump is bragging about having overturned *Roe *v. *Wade*, taking away a woman's right to choose. And now they're planning a national ban on the right to choose. You know it here in Florida from your Governor.

I made it clear: If MAGA Republicans try to pass a national ban on the right to choose, I will veto it. It will never go into effect.

And if you reelect me and Kamala and a Democratic House and a bigger Senate majority, we will restore *Roe *v. *Wade *as the law of the land everywhereâeverywhere.

Look, you're all standing for a long time, running out ofâlet me close with this.

Trump and his MAGA friends are dividing us, not uniting us; dragging us back into the past, not leading us to the future; refusing to accept the results of a legitimate election; seeking, as Trump didâsays, to "terminate" elements of the Constitution; embracing political violenceâ embracing it.

I sit, next to my office, in the Oval Officeâtwo doorsâliterally, doors to my office down is that dining room where he sat and watched on the 6th of January, watched that riot go on, watched those people being killedâwatched the cops being killed, watched what's happening.

You know, I wasâshortly after that, I wasâas President, I was in Londonâoutside of London at a Gâ7 meeting. And I sat down, and I said, "America is back." And the French President looked at me, and he said: "For how long? For how long is it back?"

And then, Olaf of Germany looked at meâthe Chancellorâand he said, "What would you say, Mr. President"âtrue storyâ"What would you say, Mr. President, if we woke up tomorrow morning and here in the London Times said, 'A thousand people stormed the gates of Parliament, broke down the doors to the House of Commons, and stopped the election of a Speakerâof a Speakerââstopped the election of a Prime Minister'?"

And I started thinking about it. What would we think? What would we think had happened?

The rest of the worldâeverywhere I know I'veâbecause I've been around a whileâI know I don't look it, but I'm a little older. [*Laughter*] But I've been around. I know every one of these former and present Presidents of nations. I mean it sincerely. I've been in over 140 countries. I know them personally.

Every meeting I go to, from the Gâ20 on, as I'm leaving, one of them pulls me aside and says: "JoeâJoe, you've got to win. You can't let him back. My country is at stake."

No, Iâno, and a lot of you travel internationally. Find me some other leader in the free world that is rooting for Trump to come back.

Folks, there's a truth and there's lies. We have to make clear we stand with the truth and we're going to defeat the lies. We must make clear that America stillâwe believe in honesty, decency, dignity, respect. We believe that we're all created equal. We've never fully lived up to it, but we've never walked away from it before. We've never walked away from it before.

You know, we leave nobody behind. We believe everybody deserves a fair shot. We don't give hate a safe harbor. We believe in America.

I mean, it sounds corny, but think about it. We believe in the idea of America.

I know what's at stake. We must keep the White House, keep the Senate, and win back the House. And then to win upâ[*applause*]âup and down the ticket at State and local offices.

Here in Florida, we have to organize, mobilize, and vote. And if we do, we will win Florida. When we do that, we'll be able to look back and say something few generations can say:

America's democracy was at risk, like it was in 2020, but we saved it.

We just have to remember who we are. We're the United States of America. And there is nothingânothingâbeyond our capacity when we do it together. And that's what we have to do.

So God bless you all. Sorry to make you stand for so long. Thank you, thank you, thank you. May God bless you all. And may he protect our troops. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

All the way back there, thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

The President. Thank you. I don't want to go home. Thank you. Thank you, all. Bye-bye.

NOTE: The President spoke at 6:27 p.m. at the residence of Christopher G. Korge. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Ronald D. DeSantis of Florida; President Emmanuel Macron of France; and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on January 31. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Campaign reception in Miami, FL. Locations: Miami, FL.

Names: DeSantis, Ronald D.; Harris, Kamala D.; Jackson, Ketanji Brown; Korge, Christopher G.; Macron, Emmanuel; Scholz, Olaf; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: 2021 civil unrest and violence at U.S. Capitol; 2024 Presidential election; Abortion; Broadband and wireless technologies; Cancer research, prevention, and treatment; Climate change; COVIDâ19 pandemic; COVIDâ19 vaccines; Economic improvement; Economic stimulus legislation; Electric and hybrid vehicles, promotion efforts; Electric vehicle charging infrastructure, improvement efforts; Federal court nominations and confirmations; Federal student loans, partial forgiveness; Florida, Democratic party event; Florida, Governor; Florida, President's visit; France, President; Germany, Chancellor; Group of Seven (Gâ7) nations; Group of Twenty (Gâ20) nations; Gun control efforts; Inflation; Infrastructure improvements; Insulin cost controls; Iowa, shooting in Perry; Job creation and growth; Lead service lines, replacement efforts; Medicare and Medicaid programs; Natural disasters, climate change impacts; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Public Service Loan Forgiveness program; Social Security program; Supreme Court Associate Justice; U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade; Vice President; Voter participation; Voting rights, protection efforts.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400058.