Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

May 8, 2024

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Bob and Jane, thank you very much for hosting us, and thank you for that introduction. And, most of all, thanks for your friendship and partnership, and thank you for your support in this campaign and the convention.

I understand there's going to be a convention in Chicago. We're excited to come back to Chicago.

Look, we're into the springâas we move into spring, we genuinely feel Iâa genuine excitement about the momentum and the excitement of this campaign. So far, we have 1.6 million individual contributors, 97 percentâ550,000 more than last time out and additionallyâ [*applause*]âand 97 percent of them contributed less than 200 bucks. They're monthly contributors.

It matters, and it shows a genuine enthusiasm. I don't think anybody has ever done that before.

And we're ramping up campaign headquarters and field offices, hiring staff across the country, andâahead of Trump's MAGA Republicans. And weâyou know, while weâthe press doesn't write about it, the momentum is clearly in our favor. All the polls moving toward us and notâand away from Trump. The latest one, we have up 6 points.

I just came from Wisconsin, where the latest Quinnipiac Poll isâhas us ahead 6 points among registered voters.

But the truth is, I don't think any of the polls matter veryâthis early around because it's hard to get a good poll these days. You know, to be able to call someone on a cell phone and get them to answerâmost people don't have hardlines anymore. It takes aâyou know, sometimes 30, 40 calls to get one person to answer.

So, you know, we were just in Wisconsin to announce a $3 billion investment from Microsoft to build a data center in Racine and power artificial intelligence systems, probably the most significant technological breakthrough in human history, and it has some potentialâ enormous potential for good and some potential for not so good.

It's being built on the same site that Trump promised Foxconn was going to build and invest

$10 billion in manufacturingâ10 billion. Trump showed up for that groundbreaking with literally gold shovels. I mean, the shovels were gold. Okay? And he promises they're going to build the "eighth wonder of the world."

Give me a break. [*Laughter*] He dug a hole, and he fell into it. [*Laughter*] He just keeps digging and digging more holes.

You know, look, Trump's trouble andâis in trouble, and he knows it. And you know, after bragging about the reason *Roe *v. *Wade *was overturned was because of him, he's now worried the voters are going to hold him accountable for what he saidâI don't know why we'd do that, hold him accountable for what he saidâand for all the cruelty and chaos that's been created as a consequence.

You know, well, we have news for Trump: The voters are going to hold him accountable.

Trump did a long interview with TIME magazine. Some of you may have seen it. And it's on the cover, so please read it. His words, not mine. He says States should monitor women's pregnancies and prosecute those who violate the ban. Monitor.

And that's not all. He said, "A lot of people liked what I did" with theâmeaning with regard to his TIME magazine interview, as well as saying that he was responsible for *Roe *v. *Wade *being overruled.

He uses phrases likeâand I'm not making this up. You can read it in TIME. You can read it anywhere on theâonline. He said he'd be a dictator on "day one." Asked if he thought violence would occur if he lost, Trump said, "It depends." They asked him whether he'd accept the results of this election. He said, "It depends." "It depends." He can't understand how it could possibly be a result unless theâthat he could support unless he won.

He calls the insurrectionists who are in prisonâhe calls them "patriots." And if reelected, he says, "I will pardon every one of them." Trump says that when he loses again in Novemberâand that's my phraseâ[*laughter*]âif he loses again in November, there will be a "bloodbath"âa "bloodbath."

And he said a whole lot more. But the bad news is he means what he says. He means what he says. Unless you think I'm kidding, just think back to the 6th of January. This guy means what he says.

But look, chaos is nothing new for Trump. His Presidency was chaos. Trump is trying to make the country forget about the dark and unsettling things that he did when he was President. Well, we're going to not let them forget.

We'll never forget him lying about the pandemic, telling people it wasn't really that serious.

And saying all you've got to do is inject a little bit of bleach in your system. I mean, for real. That's âif you didn't know about it, you'd think Iâmean, it'd beâbut if I did this in a campaign 10 years ago, they'd commit me. [*Laughter*]

I mean, look, and that bleach he didn't inject in his body; he just put it in his hair. [*Laughter*] But look, he's got more hair than I do. [*Laughter*]

And we'll never forget his love letters to Kim Jong Un of North Korea and his admiration for Putin, telling him, "Just do what you need to do if people aren't moving your way."

And here's what he said in that TIME article: He may not come to the aid of an ally, if attacked, in Europe or Asia, if he felt they weren't paying their fair share of their defenseâwould not come to their aid. Again, not my words. You can read them in TIME magazineâquotes from him.

And I don't think anybody wants to go back to that. And I think we just got to rememberâ remind people what's going on.

Look how far we've come. We've created 15 million new jobs, a record number of jobs in a three-quarter-year period of any President in American history. More people have health insurance today than ever before in history in our country. We took on Big Pharma, and we won, lowering prescription drug costs for insulin for 35 bucks instead of 400 a month, and so much more that's written into the law that's going to be coming into effect.

For example, in 2025, no senior is going to be in a position to have to pay more than $20,000 for their entire bills, if in factâI mean, $2,000, if, in fact, you're in a situation where you have a

$15,000-a-year cancer drug you have to take. Nobody.

We made the most significant investment in climate everâever, ever, ever.

I signed the most significant gun safety law in 30 years.

I could go on, but the point is this: We're lowering costs. We're expanding opportunities and protecting freedoms. It's all at stake.

Trump is still determined to terminate the Affordable Care Act. He tried 51 times. He says he's going to do it again. That's going to have a profoundâprofoundâimpact on people.

I forget howâI have it in myâI don't want to give the press hereâgive the wrong number.

But if I'm not mistaken, we're talking about millions of people who, in fact, would not have insurance, becauseâguess what?âyou're in a situation where you have toâif you have a preexisting condition, you can't get covered by most policies, especially if you don't have the money to pay a lot for the policies. But I could go on.

Look, the reason why he wants to do away with theâthe Affordable Care Act is because it was Obamacare. He can't stand the idea of associating himself with anything that had to do with Barack.

He's determined to get rid of the climate law. We're spending $369 billion on making climate changeâfor the first time in the history of the worldâthe worldânot in the United States, in the world, we're in a situation, as some of you well know, that we're going to be in a position to make significant changes.

Becauseâand he wants to know why heâeverybody wants to know why he hates theâ dealing with climate change. Well, first of all, he saysâhe knows that Big Oil doesn't like it. And he says his plan for next time around is: drill, baby, drill, drill, drill, drill.

He's determined to cut taxes. I'm all for cutting taxes. I made a commitment no one under â making under $400,000 a year would see a penny of their Federal tax go up, and I've kept that commitment and will.

But heâyou know, there's aâwe have aânow we have a thousand billionaires in America.

I'm a capitalist. That's good if you can make a billion bucks. Just start to pay a little bit of your fair share.

Guess what? You know what the average Federal rate ofâtax rate is for a billionaire? Eight- point-three percent. Anybody want to trade that tax rate for anyâbut, all kidding aside, 8.3 percent.

If we just moved to 25 percentânot an exorbitant amountâ25 percent, it would raise $400 billion over the next 10 years. Imagine what could be done. Imagine what could be done, from eliminating a significant portion of the Federal debt, all the way down to making sure that we have childcareâa whole range of things.

Look, but, at the same time, he makes no excuse about wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare. And heâand he could so much other damage.

Look, I proposed the most comprehensive immigration reform in decades, while Trump says immigrants are theâ"poisoning the blood of America." Well, I wonder how many of us would be here if that was the case when our forefathers cameâwhen our folks came. He says the biggest threatâthe biggest threat is theseâthese criminals coming across the border.

Well, folks, the biggest threat is Trump'sâthe one he poses to our democracy. And above all, what's at risk in '24 are our freedoms, our democracy.

Look, let me close this. This an election about competing values and competing visions of America. Trump's values and visions are one of anger, hate, revenge, and retribution. "I will be

your retribution." "I will be your"âyou know, I have a very different set of values that leads me in a different direction for America, one of hope and one of optimism. No, I mean it.

I see an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. I see an America where we protest and protect our freedoms when they'reâattempt to be taken away and where we restore *Roe *v. *Wade *again as the law of the land.

I see an America where everyâthe economy grows from the middle out and the bottom up, because that'sâwhen that works, everybody does well; the wealthyâthe wealthy still do well, and everybody does wellâwe got a fighting chanceâwhere working people finally have a fair shot; where healthcare becomes a right, not a privilege; where we make insulin affordable for everybody in America, capping prescription drug costs at 2,000 bucks a year for allâallâto all drugs.

I can jump you on Air Force One with me as we leave here, and you have a prescription from any American drug company, and you sayâand how much it would cost in your local pharmacy. I can take youâyou name the country; you name the city. I'll take you to Toronto, Berlin, Belgium, andâI could take it toâRome, toâand you're going to be able to get the same exact prescription for somewhere between 40- to 60-percent less.

I see a future where we see the rest of the world as a dependableâwe're seen by the rest of the world as a dependable and reliable ally.

Look what he's saying. He's telling people justâif, in fact, you don't like what's going on, he tellsâstraight up with Putin, he tells it, but he talks about it in the world: If you don't like what's going on in another country and you want to invade another country, if they haven't paid their share of what I consider necessary for their defense, have at it.

I see a future where we keep our pledge to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030, lead the way in saving the planet in the climate crisis. I see a future where we rid our country of gun violence and ban assault weapons again, and this time for real.

Folks, this election really is about democracy. It's about democracy. It's about freedom. It's about America. That's why I so badly need you.

We know we can do this together. I've never been more optimistic about our future. We just have to remember who in the hell we are. I really mean it. This is the United States of America. We're the only country in the world that's come out of every crisis we've faced stronger than we went inâevery single one in our history. Not another country can say that.

There's nothing beyond our capacity. There really is not a single thing beyond our capacity as a nation when we do it togetherâwhen we actually do it together, compromise, and get things done.

So, folks, I'm confident we're going to do well in this election but, in no small part, because of all of you. You put me in a position to be able to run this campaign in a way that is going to be able to make the cases that need to be made to the American people.

And, as you well know, the American people usually don't really begin to hard focus in elections until sometime into the springâinto the fall.

But we're setting up, as I said, our infrastructure we're putting together as a campaign. He hasn'tâTrump hasn't even opened a single major office in any State. He hasn't moved at all.

And so I think we're going to be in good shape but, in large part, because of all of you. So thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.

NOTE: The President spoke at 5:16 p.m. at the Palmer House hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Bob Clark, executive chairman and founder board of advisors, Clayco Corp., and his wife Jane; former Presidents Donald J. Trump and Barack Obama; State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong Un of North Korea; and President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 9. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Campaign reception in Chicago, IL. Locations: Chicago, IL.

Names: Clark, Bob; Clark, Jane; Kim Jong Un; Obama, Barack; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: 2021 civil unrest and violence at U.S. Capitol; 2024 Presidential election; Abortion; Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; Climate change; COVIDâ19 pandemic; Gun control efforts; Gun violence, prevention efforts; Health insurance, access and availability; Illinois, Democratic Party events; Illinois, President's visit; Insulin cost controls; Job creation and growth; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; North Korea, State Affairs Commission President; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Russia, President; Tax Code reform; U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400387.