Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

February 22, 2024

Hello, hello, hello. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I think I should go home now. [*Laughter*]

Well, first of all, Bob and Danielle, thank you for hosting us today. It matters a lot to me, and I want to especially thank you for your philanthropy advancing medical research, including for cancer.

You know, the same goes for so many of you around this country, including our great Vice President, Kamala Harris. She's an incredible partner, and I'm not sure what I'd be able to do without her.

You know, we've made clear from day one of our administration that we believe in science, which the other guy is not quite sure exists. [*Laughter*] But you know, think of, if he had moved on the pandemic earlier, how many peopleâhow many chairs would not be empty at kitchen tables these days.

It got us through the pandemic and, on behalf of everyone else, a belief that we can do just about anything we set our minds to.

You know, I truly believe we can end cancer as we know it. I've believed that for a long time. Noâ[*applause*].

I had the opportunity when I was Vice President and subsequent to that to visit every major cancer research facility in the worldâin the world. And there's so muchâso muchâgoing on and so much more we can do if we fund it and provide the effort to make it a priority.

Some of you may remember, I got in a little bit of trouble when I was askedâno one ever doubts in me when I say I sometimes say all that I mean though. [*Laughter*] But when IâI saidâ they asked me when I first got elected, if I can do any one thing, what would I do. I said I'd end cancer. And they looked at me like there are other thingsâending nuclear war, a whole range of other things that would be consequential.

And I said for two reasons: First of all, America used to believe we could do anythingâ anything we set our mind to. And that fadeâthatâthat image began to fade; people began to wonder what we can do. We started to downplay America's capacity.

And I said if we were able to take one thing and end cancer, it would communicate to all of America that there is nothing beyond our capacity when we work together. I believe that.

That's why, when I was Vice President, I asked Barack to let me start a Cancer Moonshot.

Because, you know, as President, I reinvigorated that, what we call ARPAâH. I got that from, you know, a way to fundamentally change the way we approach cancer.

And you know, one of the things is that it's aâa cure for cancer isn't going to come based on a timetable. One day, a scientistâone of you is going to walk into the lab, and you're going to find it. I said it doesn't happen, like, on a schedule. But it happens with constant, unrelenting work.

And, you know, I designed this ARPAâH with billions of dollars at the Department of Health after my work in the area of foreign and defense policy. There's an outfit at the

Department of Defense called DARPA. And DARPA is the ones that came up withâtransformed our Nation by creating the early GPS warning systems so farâthat we've invested.

And I said if you had one thing that just focuses on what the most essential need at the moment is within the Defense Department, you'd get enormous results. And it just gets funded almost separately. But it's a focus.

And I wanted the same thing to happen at NIH. And that's why I came up with ARPAâH. Now, we've only gotten $3 billion there so far, but it's $3 billion that wasn't there before. And it matters.

Look, folks, you know, we've come through one of the toughest periods in modern American history. And I'd like to talk about the future and how we finish the job we started.

You know, "finishing the job" means beating Big Pharma again. When I was a Senator for 270 yearsâ[*laughter*]âyou know, I was at an event yesterday, and they said, "And I want to read from"âsomeone said: "I want to read from Aristotle. Now, here's Joe." And I said, "I knew him well." [*Laughter*] "I knew him well."

But all kidding aside, you know, from when I was a Senator all those years, we tried to take on Big Pharma. You all know this. You're an incredibly sophisticated audience. If I put you on Air Force One with me, and you have a prescriptionâno matter what it's for, minor or majorâ and I flew you to Toronto or flew to London or flew you to Brazil or flew you anywhere in the world, I can get you that prescription filled for somewhere between 40- to 60-percent less than it costs here.

I think everybody should make aâbe able to make a buck for what they do. But it's ridiculous what's going on.

And so we wanted to make sure we changed the law. We finally got it changed as President.

Soâand it was a simple proposition. You know, we had a circumstance where if you want toâwant to supply veterans theâin the Department of Veteran Affairs and the hospitals, they're able to negotiate the prices they're going to pay. Well, guess what? Why in the hell can'tâtheâ why can't that be done now, in terms of dealing with what we're talking about? And so we started this effort.

And some of you knowâand you certainly know; my host knowsâabout diabetes and other issues that require insulin. Well, you know, it was costing peopleâthe average personâ somewhere between 4- and 500 bucks a month. Now, they cannot charge more than $35 a month.

And, folks, they're still making 350-percent profit. The guy who came up with that insulin said he didn't want to patent it because he wanted it available to everyone. It costs 10 bucks to make and 13 bucks to package, maximumâ35 bucks.

And we also changed the lawâwe changed the law for the future, beginning in 2024 [2025; White House correction], everyâno senior is going to have to pay more than $2,000 a year for their combined prescription costs, even ifâand some of these cancer drugs, as you all unfortunately know too well, are $10-, $12-, $14,000 a year.

Andâbut it's not just it saves the patients money. And savesâbut it saves theâit reduces the deficit. You know, the one thing we've done so farâyou know how much they're going to cut the deficit by?â$160 billionâ160âbecause Medicare doesn't have to pay out. They have to pay out 35 bucks instead ofâ38 bucks or 40, instead of paying out 400 bucks for one prescription.

So anyway. We wanted everyone to make it. We wanted to make it for everybody. And we did get that passed initially, but as we went through the renegotiation process for the next budget,

my MAGA friends in the Republican Party cut it out. So, to finish the job, I want to make sure 35-bucks insulin is for everybodyânot just Medicare, everybody.

And the deal we were able to put into law: We'reâevery year, we're going to be able to get dozens of other prescription drugs. Sixâsix a yearânew drugs can be picked. Six a year. And it also serves [saves; White House correction] taxpayers billions of dollars.

Look, Trump and his MAGA friends are promising again to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. As our host has told you, that law protects millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who are not well off. They cannot afford to get insurance.

This will beâTrump has announced they're going to do it again. This will be the 51st time that the MAGA Republicans have tried to eliminate this.

"Finish the job" means protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act and doing it now. You know, look, it means protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. The fact is, Republicans want to put it on the chopping block.

You may remember the last State of the Union message. I was able to spontaneously embarrass them into saying they wouldn't try it last year. You remember that? They were booing me. And I said, "How many of you out there are for cutting"â[*laughter*]. And I said, "Well, raise your hand if you're going to commit to you're not going to do anything to Medicare"â[*laughter*].

Well, they're back at it. Medicare has to be dealt with, but not the way they're proposing it.

Trump wants to do away with the most historic action ever on climate. We're going to finish the job with the Inflation Reduction Act. We should have called it the "Climate Act." But you know, it calls for $368 billionâmore money than ever, in all of historyâto be spent on climate. And it's beginning to work. Some of you are deeply involved in the climate fight, and you know we're on the cusp of a lot of breakthroughsâa lot of breakthroughs.

And we're going to build clean energy hereâhere in Americaâinvest here in America. It's on its way.

"Finish the job" means making housing more affordable and more accessible. You know, we made progress with tax fairness. TheâI come from the corporate capital of the world: Delaware. More of you are incorporated in Delaware thanâ[*laughter*]âand I got elected six times in Delaware, soâ[*laughter*]. I'm not anticorporation, but you've got to pay your taxes. [*Laughter*]

And so, folks, look, making tax fairness is the bigâand the biggest corporations begin to pay their fair share. Right now we haveâI was able to increase the tax to a minimum tax of 15 percent. That paid for every one of the programs I got passed through and, plus, cut the deficit by

$7 billion.

But look, hereâhere's what we've got to do: Trump's $2 trillion dollar tax cutânot a penny of which is paid forâsome of you were able to benefit from that. I'm sure it wasn't what you asked for, but some of you. But the vast, vast majority of American people, includingâby the way, I've not increased taxes for anybody over 400â4âunder $400,000 a year, period.

But the point is, we're in a situation where it's gotten out of hand, and the deficit increasedâ it ballooned under Trump, overwhelmingly benefitingâandâbut look, to finish the job, in my view, means getting rid of Trump's tax cut, which expires next year, and closing the loopholes.

Now, I hope some of you in here are billionaires. I'm a capitalist. [*Laughter*] No, I mean it. But paying an average of 8.2 percent ain't enough. I don't know anybody in America wouldn't tradeâsay, "Want to trade for 8.2 percent for whatever you're paying?" I don't know anybody.

But if we just had a billionaire minimum tax of 25 percent, guess what? That would raise

$440 billion over the next 10 yearsâ$440 billionâallow us to pay for everything fromâit would grow the economy, from childcare, to long-term care, and so much more.

And it's not confiscatory to anybody. It's just being a little bit fair.

You know, it's good for families, but it's also good for the economy. I asked the Treasury Department to do a study on whether or not there wasâwhat would happen if we did this. It grows the economy. It grows the economy because you've gotâwomen are able to go out and work because they have childcare. You've gotâI won't go through it all because I'm supposed to make this short. [*Laughter*]

But look, Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away your fundamental freedoms.

"Finish the job" means passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, finally.

Trump brags about having taken away *Roe *v. *Wade *by the Court he appointedâa woman's freedom to choose. Well, now a new report is out there. He's saying that he wants to limit what any State canâwhat any Stateânumber they can setâlimit theâthe right to choose across the board.

Well, guess what? I made it real clear. If our MAGA Republican friends do that, I will veto it. I will veto it.

And if you elect Kamala and me and we take back the House and a little bigger majority in the Senate, I promise you: We will fully restore *Roe *v. *Wade*ââfully restore *Roe *v. *Wade*.

I kept my promise to appoint the first Black [woman; White House correction] Supreme Court Justice. And then, what I didn't realize isâI said I wanted an administration that looked like the American people. One of you saidâI willâI will not use the exact phrase she used in theâin the lineâbut I should pay more attention to women's issues. I pointed out I wanted an administration that looked like America. I have more women in my Cabinet then men. [*Laughter*] There's more women in my administration than menâin my administrationâacross the board.

In addition to thatâin addition to appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, I have appointed more women to the appellate courts than every other President in American history combined. They're part of the 177 Federal judge we've appointed so far. And "finish the job" means getting more judges on the bench while we can, now.

All this progress matters to the American people and positions us to win in 2024, in my view.

And that brings me to my second point: We have to makeâwe have to make constant and crystal clear the choice here. I am often quoted as saying what my dad would say: "Don't compare me to the Almighty; compare me to the alternative." Wellââ

[*At this point, the President made the sign of the cross*.]

[*Laughter*] But look, time and again, Republicans show they're part of a party of chaos and division. Think about this. The Republican party this year has no platform. No, I'm notâI'm notâI'm not joking. There is no place you can go and get the Republican platform.

Look what they're doing with the bipartisan immigration border law. We worked for 5 months to get that. The border is in chaos. The borderâand the first bill I ever introduced as aâ as President of the United States was on the border, on immigration. We need somewhere in an orderâin excess of 2,000 additional personnel at the borderâfrom judges to ICE to just the Border Patrol. They don't have the personnel.

And by the way, the idea the Border Patrol endorsed me this time out, if I'm soâso much of chaos. [*Laughter*] Well, lookâand so we came up with a proposal. It did everything I wanted, and I promised I'd come back for it. It didn't deal with the issueâwhich I think we should be dealing withâwhich has to do with minors who have come here. Anyway. I won't go into it.

But there'sâwe can allâwe can pick that all up. But in the meantime, we've got to get the personnel at the border. They won't even give us the money for the technology to identify the fentanyl that's coming through. We have machines that can determine and find it.

Look, you know, and it looked like it was going to passâpass through the Senate. You know what Trump did? I'm told he was on the telephone calling House Members, threatening with retribution if they voted for it. Why? Because, quote, "It would help Biden."

Like I said, I've been around a long time, but I don't ever remember a time when the opposition was driven by the prospect, even if it's a good proposal, that "Don't do it because it would help the incumbent President."

Look what they're doing to the national security supplemental. That's thatâI used the Senate terms; I shouldn'tâsome of the money for Ukraine, Israel, and the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people need more help. And they're doing nothing. Won't even let it come up for a vote. Why? Because Donald Trump tells them not to do it.

It's outrageous. He's even gone further. And Iâwhen IâI knew this, but when I said it before, people looked at me like I was crazy until it got all over television. He invites Putin to invade NATO countriesâto invade NATOâdo whatever the hell you want, take them down if you're not paying your dues.

He has no notion of history. Imagine, had we hadânot had NATO the last seven decades, what would beâwhat would be the situation in Europe now. We need it as badly as Europe needs it. It's crazy.

The bottom line is, Republicans have to decide who they serve. Do they serve Donald Trump, or do they serve the American people? Are they here to solve problems or just to weaponize them as political issues? Because that's literally what it's come to. I'm notânot a joke. Not a joke.

There's still a lot of good Republicans. This is not your father's Republican Party, though. There's a lot of good Republicans in the SenateâHouse and Senate. I've had sevenâI will not name them; I promised I never would, and I won't. Over the last 3 years, seven Senators I worked with when I was a Senator have come in saying, "Joe"âindividuallyâ"Joe, I agree with you, but I can'tâI can't do it because they'll primary me, and I'll be lost." It does not say much about political courage, but it says about what the state of the party is right now.

Look, I'm here and you're here helping out to serve the American people. It sounds ridiculous to have to say that. When we make it clearâwe're going to make that actually clear to the American people, we're going to win.

Just look at 2020. In 2020, we were supposed to get shellacked. Remember? And I made that speech that became very famous at the Independence Hall about democracy being at stake. And the press, who's in the room here, a lot of them asked, "What's he talking about democracy for?" Well, 66 percent of the American people agree with me: It's at stake. It's at stake.

Twenty-twenty-two, we were supposed to get blistered. Remember? In the off year, the onlyâwe were the onlyâof all the Presidents who, in an off year for them, didn't lose.

Remember the red wave was coming? Well, guess what? The lowest amount of wins for the party that's out of office inâI think, ever, but I don't want toâI can't guarantee thatâbut than anybody ever thought.

Twenty-twenty-three, we were supposed to clobbered. We won every critical race out there but oneâevery one: Governors, Senators, as well as off-year elections that occurred.

Look, this gets me to my final point. We can't take anything for granted. Trump and his friends are doing one thing: deliberately trying to divide us. It's about dividing the country.

When I ran the first time, I said I was running for 3 yearsâfor three reasons in my first term out. I said I was running because I wanted to restore the soul of the Nation. That wasn't hyperbole. I meant the sense of decency and honor, being able to know what your leaders are telling you are truthful.

I said, secondly, I want to doâI want to run for a second reason: because I want to change the dynamic of how we build the middle class. Because when you build the middle class, everybody does well. I was tired of trickle-down economics.

A lot of you are economists and run multibillion-dollar companies. Name me a time when you thought we were going to be as well off in terms of economics as we are today. Raise your hand if you thought, like I thought from the beginning, we would not have a recession, that we would be, in factâI won't go through it all.

But the fact of the matter is, when you build from the middle out and the bottom up, the poor have a shot, the middle class do well, and the wealthy still very, very well.

You know, these guys want to drag us back to the future. I'm trying to pull us intoâI mean, excuse meâdrive us back to the past. I want to pull us into the future.

Refusing to accept the results of the last election, still; seeking, as Trump says, to, quote, "terminate" elements of the Constitution. He is saying it out loudâterminate elementsâhe thinks he has the right to terminate elements of the Constitution.

He embraces political violence. No president since the Civil War has done that: embracing it, encouraging it. You saw what he did, heâwith the January 6 insurrectionists. He calls them "patriots" and saying, if he gets elected, he's going to pardon them all. These guys killed cops. They killed people.

I was at the first meeting of the Gâ7 with the European leaders whenâin February after I got elected. And I sat down, and I was sitting next to Macron. And I said, "Well, America is back." He looked at me and said, "For how long, Joe?" Not a joke.

The German Chancellor spoke up and said: "Joe, what would you say if tomorrow we picked up the London Times and you read in London that they broke down the doors of the Parliament to stop the election of a Prime Minister, and three bobbies were killed? What would you think?" What would we think? I mean, just put yourselfâwhat would we think?

We are the leader of the free world, God darn it. We are looked to. [*Applause*] No, I mean it.

We are. The rest of the world looks to us. They look to us.

Doesn't mean we have the responsibility of doing everything, but we have a responsibility of doing what we can, and we can do more than any other country can.

When he calls immigrants the "vermin" who poison the blood of the country, threatening our very democracy, as he says. Folks, no wonder the survey of 150 Presidential scholars done a couple of weeks ago rates him as the worst President in American history. These are Presidential scholars, Presidential historians.

Look, folks, we have to make it clear that the America we believe in still believes in honesty, still believes in decency and dignity, respect. We believe everyone deserves just a fair shotâno guarantees, just a fair shotâan even opportunity. We leave nobody behind.

My dad, who was a really well read manâhe got into Johns Hopkins when he was outâ getting out of school, but the war came along so he never went. My dad used to have an expression. I mean this; I give you my word as a Biden. He'd say: "Joey, remember, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be okay' and believe he has a shot."

Where's the dignity and respect shown to working people in this country until recently?

Where is it?

You know, in America, we've never before given hate to safe harbor. This guy gives safeâ safe harbor.

And as I said earlier, I believe in science. You believe in science. This guyâwe've made more progress in 3 years than most Presidents have made in 8, so far, with your help and with the help of a lot of smart people in my administration. But it can all be wiped out. Not hyperbole. It can all be wiped out in this election.

So we have to stay focused on what we doâhave to do to win. We have to get out the vote. We have to keep the White House, we have to keep the Senate, and we haveâmust bringâwin back the House.

If we do that, we can say something that few generations of electors have ever been able to say: We will have saved democracy.

I'm tempted to go on, but I won't.

Here's the deal. Think about it. Think about what happens if Donald Trump wins this election. Think about all the things you've worked for. Not a joke. Just ask any of the MAGA Republicans who are out there.

And by the way, not all Republicansâa lot of decent RepublicansâRepublican Senators and Congressmen, Governors. But these guys, they control the party. About 32 percent of them control it. If they win, it's a different world.

Katie, there's two of your former colleaguesânot at the same networkâwho have told me personally that, if he wins, they have to leave the country because he has threatened to put them in jail for things they'veâhe'sâthey've said about him. This is the United States of America.

So, folks, we just remember who in the hell we are. We're the United States of Americaâthe United States of America. There is nothingânothingâbeyond our capacity, not a damn thing inâwhen we all work togetherânot a damn thing. And that's not hyperbole.

As I said earlier, name me a country that's come out of every crisis stronger than it went in, other than the United States. Name me one. Name me one.

So, folks, we have enormous opportunitiesâenormous, enormous opportunities. And I'm not the gift of all Presidents, but I'm sure in hell better than the last guy. [*Laughter*]

Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:34 p.m. at the residence of Robert N. and Danielle Klein. In his remarks, he referred to former President Barack Obama; Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia; President Emmanuel Macron of France; and Katie Couric, former anchor, "CBS Evening News." The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on February 23. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Campaign reception in Los Altos Hills, CA.

Locations: Los Altos Hills, CA.

Names: Couric, Katie; Harris, Kamala D.; Jackson, Ketanji Brown; Klein, Danielle; Klein, Robert N.; Macron, Emmanuel; Obama, Barack; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: 2021 civil unrest and violence at U.S. Capitol; 2024 Presidential election; Abortion; Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPAâH); Border security; California, Democratic Party event; California, President's visit; Cancer research, prevention, and treatment; Climate change; Corporate tax rates; COVIDâ19 pandemic; Diversity, equity, and inclusion, improvement efforts; Economic improvement; Federal court nominations and confirmations; Federal deficit and debt; France, President; Group of Seven (Gâ7) nations; Health insurance, access and availability; Immigration reform; Insulin cost controls; Medicare and Medicaid programs; National Institutes of Health; National Security Act, 2024; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Opioid epidemic, efforts to combat; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Renewable energy sources and technologies; Research and development; Russia, President; Social Security program; Supreme Court Associate Justice; Tax Code reform; U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade; Vice President; Voting rights, protection efforts.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400126.