Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

August 15, 2024

Vice President Kamala D. Harris. Hey, Maryland! Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe.

Audience members. Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

Vice President Harris. Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

Audience members. Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

Vice President Harris. Well, that about says exactly what has to be said right now: Thank you, Joe.

And with that, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.

The President. Hey, everybody. It's good to be back in Maryland.

[*At this point, the President pronounced "Baltimore" with a regional accent.*]

The Biden family started in Baltimore. Not "Baltimore"â"Baltimore." [*Laughter*]

Anyway, look, you're very polite to stick around to say hi to us. We know there was an overflow crowd.

One of the things I want to say to you isâwe didn't talk about it all, and we're going to take just 3 minutesâour democracy is literally hangingââ

Audience member. Vice President Harris, will you denounce the genocideââ

Audience members. Boo!

Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

The President. Folks, look, the reason we're such an incredibleââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

Audience members. Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

The President. Folks, you know, we've talked a lot about prescription drugs, but I want to say one thing about this election. We are the most unique country in the world, and that's not hyperbole.

We're the only countryâevery country is organized based on race, religion, ethnicity. We're the only country in the world based on an ideaânot a jokeâan idea. The idea was that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowedâand so on. That'sââ

Audience member. Including Palestinians?

The President. And it'sââ

Audience members. Boo!

The President. Yes, including Palestinians. Including Palestinians. Including the ones involved in ourâ[inaudible].

But here's the deal. Hereââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

Audience members. Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

The President. I'll be happy to answer your questions, okay?

Look, folks, here's the deal. The guy that Kamala is running against this time and I ran against last time, he has no sense of who we are. I'm not joking. I'm not joking.

What holds this country together, with our great diversity, are the institutionsâthe institutions. That's our democracy: the courts, the system that we have, the Presidency, the Congress. And these powers matter. They matter, and they balance everything out.

We're the most diverse country in the history of America and the world. [*Applause*] No, no, no, weâwe are. And it is our strengthâis our strength, but they're trying to turn this into a race war. They're trying to turn this into a war about who you are, what your ethnicity is, what your background is. And it's not who we are.

And the restâand one other thing I want to say to youâdidn't talk about it at all, and I'm only going to talk about 3 minutes now. One of the things that we can'târeason we cannot let Kamala loseâI mean, she must winâis this.

Folksâfolks, look, here's the deal. Here's the deal. I can promise you: I've knownâand as you can, I'm aâI know I'm a young man. I know I look like I'm 40, but I'm a little older. [*Laughter*]

I, literally, personally know every major world leader. I've known them for a long time. I was chairman of Foreign Relations Committee. I was Vice President. That's why Barack wanted me as Vice President for 8 years. Iâthat's what I've done. And it'sââ

And look, heââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

Audience members. Boo! Audience member. [Inaudible] The President. Lookâlookââ

Audience member. Please stop sending moneyâ[inaudible]!

Audience member. [Inaudible]

The President. Folks, this guy wants to break down NATO. This guy wants to break our alliances. This guy wants to go it alone. It makes no sense what he's talking about. He is a danger.

And I don't know a single major world leader who is not a dictatorââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

The President. ââwho'sâwho's not a dictator, who, in factââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

The President. ââwho, in fact, every major conference I attendânot a jokeâas I'm walking outâthis is not a jokeâa world leader, whoever it is, whatever country, will grab my arm and say, "You've got to win"âthis is when I was runningâmeaning, "He's got to lose," because they're scared to death of what he'll do. Scared to death how he's going to break up the world.

We finally put it together. NATO is stronger than it has ever been and so on.

So my point is, there's so much at stake here. And how can we be the strongest nation in the world without the best education system in the world, without the best infrastructure in the world, without the mostâthe best criminal justice system in the world? Howâhow can that be?

And that's what we're putting together. Kamala did that andâthe two of us, along with the help of the Governor and many other Governors.

So, folks, look, this really matters. It really, really matters.

And by the way, don't get too angry at the Palestinians. Because what's happeningââ

Audience member. [Inaudible] [Laughter]

The President. Butâno, no, no, no, look, the Palestinian foundââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

The President. No, we're talking about health care, but that'sâwe're talking about international health care. There's an awful lot of folks we're trying to get help to. And the Israelis are helping to try to get it there, as the Palestiniansâmost are.

The only people the Palestinians dislike more than some of the Israelis are Hamas.

And as we speak, my team is in Doha right now with a make-it-or-break-it piece of legislation the three of us have introduced. There must be peace.

Anyway, thank you very, very much. I'm going to turn it over. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote.

NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 2:35 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to former President Donald J. Trump, in his capacity as the 2024 Republican Presidential nominee; former President Barack Obama; and Gov. Westley W.O. "Wes" Moore of Maryland. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on August 16. Audio was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Prince George's Community College in Largo, MD, overflow crowd.

Locations: Largo, MD.

Names: Harris, Kamala D.; Moore, Westley W.O. "Wes"; Obama, Barack; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; Criminal justice system, reform efforts; Education, global competitiveness; Gaza, conflict with Israel; Gaza, humanitarian situation; Hamas political- paramilitary organization; Infrastructure improvements; Israel, military operations in Gaza; Maryland, Governor; Maryland, President's visit; Maryland, Prince George's Community College in Largo; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400701.