Press Release
☷Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event | Philadelphia PA
White House ( By Press Release office)
Mar 11,2024
| 6| 0
Strath Haven High School Philadelphia , PA 5:51 P . M . Mr . President: I think I should go home now . ( Laughter and applause ) Hello , Delco! ( Applause . ) I ' m Joe Biden . I ' m Jill Biden ' s husband . ( Laughter and applause ) Thank you to the elected officials who are here today , including someone - - I keep telling her that I think we are connected . We ' re from - our families are from the same county in Ireland . Congressman Scanlon , where is she? ( Applause ) You are here . You do a great job representing this district . ( Applause . ) If you ' re tired , you probably watched my speech last night . ( Laughter and applause . ) I received my usual warm reception from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene . ( Laughter ) In my speech , I talked about the progress we have made since taking office . I talked about how much is at stake . Folks , our freedoms are indeed on the ballot this November . Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are trying to take away our freedoms . This is no exaggeration . Well , guess we won ' t let him do that . ( Applause . ) We won ' t let him do that . Last night , at the U . S . Capitol , our freedoms were under attack on July 6th in the same building - - Ja - - - - Sorry , on January 6th , we talked about another [one mother] Alaba Mazhou . Fourteen months ago , she and her husband welcomed a baby girl with the help of another Alabamian — thanks to the miracle of in vitro fertilization . She arranged treatment for the birth of her second child . But because the U . S . Supreme Court overturned the Roe v . Wade ruling , the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state . She was told her dreams would have to wait . What her family went through should never have happened . Guys , do you know why this happens? I ' ll tell you why . One reason: Donald Trump . He came into office determined to overturn Roe v . Wade . In fact , he has repeatedly boasted that he was the reason the plan was overturned . He got his wish . States are passing bans , criminalizing doctors , and forcing rape and incest victims to leave their states for treatment . Now , MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump want to pass a national ban on the right to choose . AUDIENCE: Hush - PRESIDENT: Okay , seriously , guys . Because that ' s what they ' re doing . Hear me loud and clear: This will not happen on my watch . ( Applause . ) The decision - the decision is over - Audience: Four more years! Four more years to go! Four more years to go! THE PRESIDENT: Thank you . In its decision overturning Roe v . Wade , the Supreme Court majority wrote , "Women are not without suffrage or political power . " Obviously , these are boasts - - ( Laughter ) - - anyway . ( Laughter ) Those who brag about overturning Roe v . Wade know nothing about the power of American women . ( Applause . ) No clue . They discovered this in 2022 and 2023 when voting on reproductive freedoms , and they will discover it again in 2024 . ( applause . As I said from the start , who says we can ' t be the manufacturing capital of the world again? Wages are up and inflation is going down . Inflation has dropped from 9 percent to 3 percent . ( Applause . ) We ' ve made so much progress . And now , let ' s focus on the future we can build because there ' s still more to do . These guys talk about it , but too many corporations keep raising prices and padding their profits , charging you more and giving you less . That ' s why we ' re cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging and deceptive pricing . AUDIENCE MEMBER: I pay more than that . I ' m not just making this up , folks . The banks and credit card companies are making billions off these fees . But guess what? I ' m saving American families $20 billion a year by getting rid of them . That ' s right , $20 billion! Oh , and let ' s not forget about those annoying hidden fees on our bills . My administration is taking action by slashing credit card late fees from $32 to $8 . It ' s about time we put an end to these ridiculous charges . In fact , in 2020 , 55 of the biggest corporations in America made $40 billion in profit and didn ' t pay a single penny in federal taxes . Can you believe that? Well , thanks to a law I wrote and signed , things are changing . Now , these big companies have to pay a minimum of 15 percent . It ' s still less than what regular folks pay , so we ' re going to raise it to at least 21 percent . It ' s only fair . So it turns out that some companies have been pulling a sneaky move by giving us smaller bags of potato chips , but charging the same price . Can you believe it? And it ' s not just chips , even Snickers bars have been shrinking without us even realizing it . It ' s not a joke , I swear . Now , let me tell you about the tax code . It ' s a mess , and it ' s definitely not fair . But I ' m not giving up on making it fair for everyone . Under my plan , if you make less than $400 , 000 a year ( which , by the way , I never have ) , you won ' t have to pay any additional taxes . But those big corporations , they need to start paying their fair share . It ' s just common sense . So , all these big corporations are finally starting to pay their fair share . I want to stop giving tax breaks to Big Pharma , Big Oil , and those with corporate jets . Did you know that billionaires have a lower federal tax rate than most people? That ' s why I ' m proposing a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires , which could raise $500 billion over the next decade . Let ' s use that money to invest in things like childcare and fighting the climate crisis . And you know what? America is actually safer now than when I first became President . We ' ve made significant progress on climate change and passed important gun safety laws . Let ' s keep moving forward and making positive changes for our country . The only big company in America that you can ' t sue is gun manufacturers . Just think about that . If it was the same with tobacco , imagine how many more people would be dying from cancer . Look , there ' s a lot more to say , but I don ' t want to keep you standing for too long . I know - ( laughs ) - I know - I know - ( applause ) . AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! THE PRESIDENT: So , I was watching TV last night around 2 am , after we got back to the house - ( laughter ) - the White House . ( Laughter . ) It ' s still weird to think of it as home . ( Laughs . ) I had the TV on and there was a commentator on Fox News saying , "You know , Biden is changing from trickle - down economics to building from the middle out and the bottom up . It ' s going to ruin America . " Ruin America . Right now , we have the strongest economy in the world . And like I said - ( applause ) - well , like I said - and I really mean this , I ' ve believed it my whole career and finally made it happen: If we focus on the middle class , they are the heart and soul of this country . If we give them a fair chance , the poor can rise up and the wealthy will still do very well . I ' m a capitalist , but when capitalism turns into unfair competition , it ' s just stealing . Let me end with this . I know you might think I haven ' t been around for very long . ( Laughter . ) But as you get older , certain things become clearer than ever before . I know the American story . I ' ve seen it time and time again , in battles for the soul of this nation . Some of you may remember when I ran in 2020 , the press criticized me for saying I was running for three reasons: to restore the soul of America , to build up the middle class so we can all have an equal chance , and to unite the country . Those are still my goals . AUDIENCE MEMBER: That ' s why you ' re my President , Joe! ( Applause . ) THE PRESIDENT: Well , thank you . Because the soul of the country is who we are . You know , did you ever think - those of you over 40 - ( laughter ) - did you ever think we ' d be in a situation where we talk to each other the way we do these days? Seeing things that we see , no matter how tough things were in the past - when you ' re driving down the street and there ' s a Trump banner with an "F - you" on it and a little six - year - old kid flipping you off . Did you ever see - no , I ' m serious . Did you ever think people would talk the way they do? Look , it diminishes who we are . That ' s not America . Above all , I see a country for all Americans , a future for all Americans , a presidency for all Americans . Because I truly believe in America . I believe in you , the American people . We just have to remember who we are . We are the United States of America . And together , there is nothing we can ' t achieve . Donald Trump sees things differently . He sees a story of resentment , revenge , retribution . I ' ve been working hard to bring Europe , NATO , and protect Ukraine from Russia ' s dictator . But , you know , we have a president who has basically given Putin a free pass to do whatever it wants in Ukraine . He even thinks Putin is a good guy . Guess who he ' s meeting with today? Orbán from Hungary , who openly opposes democracy and is looking for dictatorship . He ' s the only NATO member he ' s meeting with . Oh , by the way , she mentioned how she fell in love with me . I had to ask her to marry me five times before she finally said yes . The fifth time , I was in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela when I asked her again . When I got back to her apartment in Wilmington , Delaware , I told her , "Jill , you ' ve got my Irish up . I ' m asking you one more time . " And she said , "Okay . " I married a Philly girl .
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