President Biden
Appearances
Morning Wire
Trump vs. Inflation: Can He Fix the US Economy? | 12.14.24
Don't take my word for it. Here's how Time Magazine and other commentators describe the economy. I'm leaving to my successor, and there's a number of these quotes. President-elect Trump has received the strongest economy in modern history, which is the envy of the world.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-07-2024 4PM EST
Speaking from the Rose Garden, President Biden said the will of the people has prevailed and then repeated a line he has delivered often in criticism of the former president. but with new meaning now. You can't love your country only when you win.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-07-2024 4PM EST
You can't love your neighbor only when you agree. Something I hope we can do no matter who you voted for is see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. Bring down the temperature.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-07-2024 4PM EST
He directed his entire administration to work with Trump's team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House.
PBD Podcast
Fani Willis DISQUALIFIED, President Elon Musk, Luigi Mangione Indicted | PBD Podcast | Ep. 523
There's a lot of drones authorized up there. I think one started and they all got everybody who wanted to get in the deal.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Why should they still be in jail for the same charge? So there's a whole lot of things we're changing in the near term that will provide for greater equity and fairness. I want people to look at my government and say, my government's fair. My government's being fair. They're being decent. They're working in a way that benefits everybody.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And so there's a lot of things we, and look, I'm not going away. I'm no longer going to be president. My next question. I'm going to be deeply involved in matters, for example, you know, when I got elected, we weren't even part of the deal trying to deal with international concern about the environment.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
So we joined, again, the group that said, in the world, we were one of the few major nations out of that group that said that if you let the temperature go above 1.5 degrees Celsius, it's over. It's over. It's the only existential threat to humanity. Well, I'm going to continue to work very hard on environmental issues.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
For example, when I was deciding to run for president, I hadn't formally announced my plan on the environment because I wanted to sit down, even though I had a long record on the environment. I wanted to sit down with the union guys. When I think environment, I think jobs. I don't think restrictions on jobs, it's jobs. Creating thousands of good-paying jobs, dealing with environmental concerns.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And so once the IBEW notice came along and said, oh, okay, we're changing our view. Because remember, four years, five years ago, six years ago, unions thought environment, let's cross this job. The exact opposite is happening.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
So what we try to do is focus on the things that are going to have a longest-term impact on the security and stability of my country, my children, my grandchildren, and not mine, all children and grandchildren. And I think we're doing that. And it's starting to take hold.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, I guess if I thought a lot about it, it would be something I've done specifically, but not generically. I set out to do two things. Restore America's leadership in the world. I think we've done that. And two, to generate opportunity for ordinary people to have a shot in the economy. And I think we've done that as well. And so we've changed the sort of
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
measure for how to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up rather than top down. And we've worked in a situation where we've once again reestablished our leadership in the world. I always ask people rhetorical questions. If America is not leading the world, who's going to lead it? Who? What country? Is it capacity?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And so we have an obligation and an opportunity to make a world better for everybody. But without being, and by the way, look what we've done. We've changed the dynamic in Europe. We're in the process, God willing, if my effort goes through with what's going on in Gaza and the Middle East, we may have an agreement there.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Look what's happening in the Pacific and particularly in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Well, guess what? We have a group now. Asia, excuse me, and India, Japan, Australia, United States, a quad that is bringing stability to that region of the world.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I hope so. I think so. But you never know.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
We've got to stay involved. We've got to keep fighting. We've got to make clear we're not going away. We're not going away. I'm not going away. I'm going to be deeply involved in the environment. I'm going to be deeply involved in foreign policy, deeply involved in all the things I've been involved in before. There's a whole lot of people too that are doing that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And this is not appropriate for me to be asking you questions, but think about what decisions you have to make to get the kind of listenership and followership you have. And how do other entities do that? And tell the truth like you do. It's about finding ways to communicate with people that are so different than existed even 10 years ago. And it's a moment of transition.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I know I drive my friends crazy. I keep talking about major inflection points in American history and world history. But every six or seven, every six or seven decades, something changes as a consequence that
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
generates a significant shift in the way people look at things and look look what just what global warming has done i had early on i met with putin when i first got elected and he talked about global warming wasn't a problem it's not you're you know russia is in eight time zones around the arctic circle guess what it's melting methane is coming out of the ground what are you going to do about that well not sure what to do but
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
That's why we have to work with countries, even though we have different views on many fundamental things. We can disagree with them, but we can still work on the things that affect all humanity, like global warming.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
It's devastating. I think if Project 2025 came along and, you know, how many thousands of government employees they want to cut, how many changes they want to make in terms of what we can do and not do. I mean, it's an extreme policy written by an extreme group, and I don't think it can take hold.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, you know, it's been interesting. When I first got elected, I was 29 years old. You have to be 30 to be sworn in. I got elected when I was 29. I didn't turn 30 until 17 days later. And it took... It took time. I used to be stopped going to the Senate elevator when there was a vote. I said, no, no, I'm a senator too.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
But what's happened is it's given me an enormous amount of experience in that ultimately all politics is personal. It's about building personal relationships. I'll tell you a real quick story. When I was vice president and things were really starting to fall apart in terms of the way the parties were talking to one another, I realized there were a lot of senators that I didn't know.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I think most people would say I was a fairly successful senator in bipartisan efforts we put together. So I went over to the Senate dining room. Not the one where I could take you as a senator and sit down and have lunch with you. But where just senators ate with one another. It's right across from the Senate Diamond. There's that elevator in the first floor. It's on the left side.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
You walk in, there's a big buffet table, a big table that seats 18, 20 people. And then perpendicular to that, there's one in the back. Democrats and Republicans sit at different tables. Well, I was convinced by Teddy Kennedy to go over there and go to lunch on a regular basis.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
You sit there and you learn that the man or woman you're talking to just had a big fight on the floor with has a daughter or son who's dying, or a wife has breast cancer, or he or she has a serious loss. It's hard to dislike someone when you know their problems. You can disagree like hell, but you can still work together. And we've lost that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
There was very little communication between Democrats and Republicans in the whole office before. And it's hard to get things done that way. I remember I went over, as I said, I was a vice president, and I was known for having good relationships in the Senate. So I show up for lunch. There's no dining room anymore, just easy chairs.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
no place a group of democrats and republican senators in regular basis we just sit down and talk get things done so we have to things become too distant in my view and uh i think it's going to start changing
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
is that one of the things you're going to be working on after you leave here to try to fix that and you mentioned some of your plans after you leave well I've been talking with a lot of Republicans who are either no longer hold office like I will not but still are deeply engaged and those who are in office and uh
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I think there's ways we can begin to accommodate the changes that have to take place that doesn't have to be so visceral, doesn't have to be so personal in terms of going after each other. What is it that the American people most want? They want to be able to turn, look, they want to be able to turn on the television and hear some good news. They want to, I mean, but does that sell anymore?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I've talked to a number of your colleagues who are with the major networks over the years, last six, seven years. And they talk about how they, it's hard. It's hard for them to be able to, communicate with one another. And they're worried about what they say. Will one party go after them or not? Will there be retribution? And look at all the threats.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Look at all the threats that we have made about getting back at people who crossed, who didn't support Trump or didn't support, I mean, I won't go into the name, but all the people these, I mean, what's going on here? That's not America. That's not who the hell we are. And I think that it's... I just kind of continue to fight against it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
continue to make the public case that you should be able to say what you believe without worrying about retribution because you didn't support a particular candidate in your party. And look, that old joke, I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat, but all kidding aside, the truth of the matter is I think that there's a lot of cohesion
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, when I ran, I said I was going to try to do three things. Resource some integrity to the office, bring back a sense of focus on the needs of ordinary people, and try to unite the country. And so that's what I've done. I've tried to do. In four years, we've accomplished a lot.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
among the Democrats now, and I think we're gonna, I think you're gonna see some things change in terms of getting things done that we need to get done. How can you lead the world without the best education system in the world? Instead of doing away with Department of Education. How the hell can you lead the world without having the strongest environmental protections in the world?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
How can you lead the world if you don't have the best infrastructure? And if we don't lead the world, who does? Who does? The rest of the world's looking to us. They're looking to us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I kept my word that when I said I was going to do something, I did. And that my focus has always been about how to give ordinary people a shot. You've probably heard me say it before. My dad used to say, Joey, 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, I'm just going to be okay and mean it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
It's about being able to be yourself and focus on people who need some help. And the vast majority of American people, all they want is a chance, just a chance, and they'll do fine.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I do. I'm hopeful. But, you know, when I was years ago, when I was a senator, I had... I'm about to be a vice president, cranial aneurysm. And I remember being wheeled down the operating room with the nine hour operation and they said, their issue was whether aneurysms were congenital or environmental. And I said, doc, I don't care, just fix it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And after it was all over, my neurosurgeon said, you know your problem is Senator, I was a Senator then, your problem is you're a congenital optimist. I have enormous faith
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I mean, it hadn't trickled down to every single person yet, but we're in a situation where we have the strongest economy in the world by any measure. For example, we made sure that we got ourselves in a situation where we wanted to get results immediately. So I started to work on the things I thought were most consequential.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
How can we lead the world without having the best infrastructure in the world, the best ports, airports, et cetera, roads, highways, transportation, electric connectivity? How can we lead the world if we're not dealing with the single greatest threat to humanity, the emergence of climate change? We go above 1.5 degrees Celsius. we're in real trouble.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren are in real trouble. And if we can't move in the direction of seeing to it that we take care of the people who are most in need, for example, the idea that we charge so much for prescription drugs in America,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I can take any one of you guys who have a prescription from any American drug company, put you in Air Force One and fly to any of 10 cities in the world. I can get you the same exact drugs from a drugstore, quote unquote, in those countries that is 40, 60% less. The only protected entity was Medicare could not negotiate with drug companies.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
I also think it was really important that we do something about you know, 1% of the population. was defending 99% of us. And we weren't taking care of our veterans if we had to. So that's why I worked so hard to make sure we're in a situation where we're provided for the opportunity for the veterans to be cared for and their families to be cared for. We fundamentally changed that.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And we also moved in the direction of making sure that we're in a situation where we provide for opportunities and education and provide for opportunities to deal with the things that ordinary people have a shot of being able to do. And I guess maybe one of the big things we've done is we've attracted a trillion dollars off the sidelines. We invested in America by an American.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And so, for example, we invented that little computer chip. We made it more sophisticated. Well, when we found out that corporations were exporting to manufacturers, the cheapest labor around the world, But then, guess what? When COVID hit and those outfits shut down because of illness in the Far East, well, guess what? We found out we needed 300 to build an automobile.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
We found out so on and so forth. We were in real trouble, so I decided to change that and make sure we were part of the supply chain. We were the beginning of the supply chain. And all that has resulted in real significant economic growth that hasn't yet gone to all the people because it takes time to get it up and running. But those are the things I focused on first.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, not many did, by the way, number one. Number two, I think that it's hard to translate. I think the one thing that I should have spent more time talking about is these things are going to take time to be put in place. For example, When we decide that we're gonna build a computer chip factory outside of Columbus, we're gonna invest billions of dollars in construction of that facility.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
All the jobs are gonna be created by the construction needed to do it. And then there's what they call fabs, these great big things, twice the size of football fields, where people are going to be making these computer chips. And guess what? The average salary is going to be $102,000. And you don't need a college degree. It's going to fundamentally change the community.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
But the problem is it's going to take time to get them up and going. The same with almost all the stuff we've done. And so I think the failure to connect between what was happening to the economy as a whole and what's going to happen to the middle class Americans as a consequence of what we've done is going to take a little bit of time.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Look, I've invested more in red states than in blue states, all these programs we just talked about. The reason for that was the red states didn't operate very well, and they really hurt their constituents. So those factories closed and the like. The fact is that I represent all of America, not just Democrats.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And I think what it's going to do is it's going to bring the country more together than separate it. For example, you already have folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others saying, don't eliminate the factory after talking about the proposal that we're going to build that. It was the worst idea anybody's ever had. She didn't vote for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
So I think there's going to be a bit of a comeuppance here, but the bottom line is I'm convinced that over time, The American public will respond to what is the intention of the party to try to help ordinary people. And the fundamental change I made, and I made a speech at Brookings Institution about it recently, was in the economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
The fact is that we had a long time this idea of trickle-down economics. Let the wealthy do very, very well. They'll have so much money, it'll trickle down on people's kitchen tables and coffee tables and like, and everyone will benefit. I've never bought that theory. And so what I've decided to do was to change it to build the comedy from the middle out and the bottom up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Wealthy still do very well. But the middle class and working class people do much, much better. And that's exactly what's happening. And so I think the long term prospects for the country are very good.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, look, for your audience, there's these various organizations like the G7, the leaders of seven European nations and the like, G20, all these. And I've attended all this. The only advantage being the old guy in the presidency, I have more experience in this than anybody else does. And I've known all these folks.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And one of the things that we've done was they've said to me at the end of these meetings, come on, you can't walk away from this. Our democracy depends on it. Well, they're concerned and they're concerned whether Trump's going to do some of the foolhardy stuff he says he wants to do.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
These extreme tariffs, which are going to cost America, taxing the middle American taxpayer, dealing with not supporting Ukraine by letting Russia have its way, moving in the direction where we walk away from. Look, I was able to expand NATO, expand it, not just maintain it, but bring it back and expand it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
you know henry kissinger called me 10 days before he passed away to say joe not since napoleon has europe not looked over its shoulder at russia with dread until now well we were able to i was able to convince two countries sweden and a country of the 800 mile border along the russian border to join nato And so it's a stronger organization.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
But we've got to demonstrate that we're prepared to continue to do our part. And I think that the vast majority of the members of the Congress, even among Republicans, think that. So I doubt whether the president's going to be able to walk away from those commitments.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Of course I am. Only president ever to avoid an inauguration was the guy that's about to be inaugurated.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, because it's who we are as a nation. It's how we're supposed to be. The fact that he doesn't abide by the rules of the democracy we've established is not my concern. My job is to make a transition workable and available and make sure he's beginning to adjust to it. He's beginning now to say to go background checks for his people and so on and so forth.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
The bottom line is that we can't keep this up. We can't keep up this childish game of walking away when you don't agree. They're not cooperating. Depending who you talk to, and I talk to a lot of Republicans, somewhere between, well, most people say 30% of the Republican Party is the mega Republicans now. And they are the Republican Party now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
It's going to be interesting to watch what happens to the Republican Party if he tries to implement some of the things he said he was going to do. But it's important. The democratic institutions are consequential. We're the most unique nation in the world. Every other nation has come about as a consequence of ethnicity, religion, geography. We're the only one building an idea.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
The idea is we hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are critical, et cetera. We've never fully lived up to it. We've never walked away from it. And we have to keep keeping faith with that notion, even if the guy that's about to take office has a different view.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, I think it's, you and your crew here would know much better than I would, but I think the media's changed drastically. Not bad or good, just changed in a fundamental way. When you read that only, what is it, something like, six, seven percent of people under the age of 25 read a newspaper to get their news, so on and so forth. Technology is changing everything.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
And I think your guys are extremely successful because you speak to what is a truth. You say, this is what I think the facts are. You lay it out. You speak to it. But it's hard to, there are very few editors anymore. Very few editors saying you can't write that. Or you have billionaires buying standard newspapers that are well known and saying we're not going to do that anymore.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
We're not because I don't want to do it. So I think it's going to take a while for this to sort out.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
Well, there's a couple of things I want to get done and For example, we're in a situation right now where we should be providing for the funding to make a transition to deal with some of the issues that relate to women's issues. For example, women's health, dealing with issues relating to whether or not we're going to We should be passing an ERA, there's a consensus for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
President Biden EXCLUSIVE Interview with MeidasTouch
There's a lot of things we should be doing, but we just gotta keep talking about them. I don't know that it'll get done before I leave, but I got a lot done in terms of dealing with issues relating to the urgent needs of the moment. For example, the idea that all those folks who were sent to jail for drug charges that have subsequently been fundamentally changed and are lower,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
Look, I've invested more in red states than in blue states, all these programs we just talked about. The reason for that was the red states didn't operate very well, and they really hurt their constituents. So those factories closed and the like. The fact is that I represent all of America, not just Democrats.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
And I think what it's going to do is it's going to bring the country more together than separate it. And for example, you already have folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others saying, don't eliminate the factory after talking about the proposal that we're going to build that. It was the worst idea anybody's ever had. She didn't vote for it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
So I think there's going to be a bit of a comeuppance here. But the bottom line is I'm convinced that over time, the American public will respond to what is the intention of the party to try to help ordinary people. And the fundamental change I made, and I made a speech at Brookings Institution about it recently, was on the economy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
The fact is that we had a long time this idea of trickle-down economics. Let the wealthy do very, very well. They'll have so much money, it'll trickle down on people's kitchen tables and coffee tables and like, and everyone will benefit. I've never bought that theory. And so what I've decided to do was to change it to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
Wealthy still do very well, but the middle class and working class people do much, much better. And that's exactly what's happening. And so I think the long-term prospects for the country
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
I kept my word that when I said I was going to do something, I did. And that my focus has always been about how to give ordinary people a shot. You've probably heard me say it before. My dad used to say, Joey, your 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, I'm just going to be okay and mean it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump SELF-DESTRUCTS + Meidas LANDS Biden EXCLUSIVE
It's about being able to be yourself and focus on people who need some help. And the vast majority of American people, all they want is a chance, just a chance, and they'll do fine. You see hope? I do. I am hopeful.