Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

August 15, 2024

The President. Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. Whoa! The next President of the United States of America.

Folks, you've been here a long time. I apologize. You're in another overflow room.

I think yourâI think your patience really exceeds your good judgment. But thank you, thank you, thank you.

Folks, one minute. One minute. You know this is not hyperbole. This is the single most important election in our lives. Our democracyâ[*applause*]âour democracy is literally at stake. And Iâguess what? And I left you the woman who's going to take care of it.

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

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

Vice President Harris. What's up, Maryland?

So, listen, we wanted to come by. I think, maybe, you all saw the President speak just a little bit in the other room a little bit ago.

Audience members. Yes!

Vice President Harris. I'm telling youâand you already know; this is why you're here, taking time from your busy livesâwhat, under Joe Biden's leadership, we have been able to accomplish in only 3Â½ years on so many issues, including this one issue, which is letting Medicare negotiate drug prices for our seniorsâwhat it has meantââ

Have you all seen that list that we publishedâ[*applause*]âabout theâwhat is going to be anywhere fromâI think it's 40- to 80-percent reduction of cost for prescription medication? It's extraordinary, and it has never happened before.

And one of the things I know about Joe Biden, our Presidentâbecause I'm with him all the time; I see him when the cameras are on and when the cameras are offâhe is always fighting for the working people of America, for the families of America.

And finally, under his leadership, our administration taking on Big Pharma to bring down the cost of prescription medication so no longer will our seniors have to make a decision about whether they're able to fill a prescriptionâa doctor order to save their life, to improve their conditionâor have to choose whether they're going to be able to pay their rent or put food on the table.

And I'll just cap off everything that the President is about and everything that we're announcing today with this point. I think, in the last several years, there's been this kind ofâ almost perversion about this concept about whatâhow you measure the strength of a leader, where some people, like the folks onâthat one individualâ[*laughter*]âwhoâwho would suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down. That's wrongheaded.

It is not who we are as Americans to suggest that's the sign of the strength of a leader. When what we knowâand you look at someone like Joe Biden for empirical evidence of itâis that the

real measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift upâ[*applause*]âwho you lift up, having that level of concern and care about the well-being of other people, and then dedicate a lifetime to doing something about it.

Audience member. We did it, Joe! You did it!

Vice President Harris. [Laughter] So that's what today was about. And we thank you, Joe.

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

Vice President Harris. And thank you, Maryland. Remember to vote. [Laughter]

The President. Guys, remember, not a jokeââ Audience member. Howard University in the house! The President. Whoa!

Audience member. [Inaudible]âPresident Biden. [Laughter]

The President. Well, by the way, we were able to get $15 billion to HBCUsâ[applause]â

$15 billionâbillion, billion, billion.

And, by the wayâthe second thing isâlook, guysââ

Audience member. [Inaudible]

Audience member. [Inaudible]âloves you.

The President. We've had this going on for a long time. I got my start at Delaware State University. But I tell you what, manâI tell you what. You've got this Howard stuff going.

Anyway, thank you. You're the reason we're going to win. Not a joke. That is no joke. That is not a joke.

You know what? You allâall underestimate, I thinkâmost people doâis people who respect you look at you and you say, "Why do you like that woman or that man?" It impacts on them. It matters a lot.

And we'reâI'm so sick and tired of all the division in this country. When I ran last timeâ when I ran the first time, I said was running for three times [things; White House correction]: to restore the soul of this country, a sense of decency and honor. No, I really mean it. We're a decent, honorable people, and the other team is not playing that way.

And by the way, this is notâyou know, the Republican Party that's out there now isn't the party that I grew up with knowing about. There were a lot of really conservative people in the Republican Party in the 800 years I was a Senator. [*Laughter*]

But these guys, as my brother would say, are a different breed of cat. And Donald Bump or Trump or whatever his nameâ[*laughter*].

By the way, I kind of like the idea of getting these nicknames. HeâIâ[*inaudible*]. [*Laughter*]

[*At this point, the President addressed an audience member wearing a hat.*]

Anyway, I have one request: Where the hell did you get that lid, man? [*Laughter*] I've got one similar to it. I've got one similar toâanyway.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Go out like our country depended on it, because it does. God love you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:56 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to former President Donald J. Trump, in his capacity as the 2024 Republican Presidential nominee. 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.; Trump, Donald J.

Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Maryland, President's visit; Maryland, Prince George's Community College in Largo; Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400702.