Pool Reports of March 28, 2024

In-town pool report #1 - motorcading to JBA

Motorcade departed WH at 11:03 am (a tad early) for Joint Base Andrews, en route NYC for big campaign fundraiser. Pool did not see POTUS get into his vehicle. It's a cloudy day, 48 degrees.

No lift from South Lawn, which is being prepped for next Monday's Easter Egg Roll.

In-town pool report #2 - JBA arrival

Motorcade arrived JBA at 11:22 am after an uneventful drive.

In-town pool report #4 - potus spoke to Mayor Adams

From WH:

President Biden spoke to Mayor Adams and gave his condolences about the tragic killing of Officer Jonathan Diller. The President offered Mayor Adams, the City of New York, and the New York Police Department his support in the wake of the tragedy.

(AF1 still en route NYC, so figured I'd send, post hand-off)

In-town pool report #5 - KJP gaggling now

Streaming on WH site

Travel pool report #1 — JBA

Good morning from Joint Base Andrews.

POTUS' motorcade arrived on the tarmac at 11:25am.

The president spoke very briefly about Sen. Lieberman's passing.

"He was a good man," Biden stated adding that he'd spoken to Lieberman's wife. POTUS did not answer a question about the Baltimore bridge collapse.

We're wheels up shortly for NYC

Travel pool report #2 — wheels down/Obama OTR

AF1 touched down at 12:09pm.

Former President Barack Obama came to the press cabin and spoke off the record for roughly 5 minutes prior to Karine's gaggle.

Tktk

Travel pool report #3 — AF1 travelers

Passing along from WH

Traveling with the President aboard Air Force One en route John F. Kennedy International Airport:

President Barack Obama
Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Steve Ricchetti, Assistant to the President & Counselor to the President
Annie Tomasini, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the First Lady
Karine Jean-Pierre, Assistant to the President & Press Secretary
Vinay Reddy, Assistant to the President & Director of Speechwriting
Stephen Benjamin, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of the Office of Public Engagement
Ben LaBolt, Assistant to the President & Director of Communications
Ryan Montoya, Assistant to the President & Director of Scheduling & Advance
John McCarthy, Deputy Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor for Political Engagement
Curtis Ried, Deputy Assistant to the President & National Security Council Chief of Staff & Executive Secretary
Ashley Williams, Deputy Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the President & Director of Strategic Outreach

Travel pool report #4 — motorcade

POTUS deplaned at 12:20pm and hopped in the motorcade without fielding questions amid steady rain showers. We're rolling to RON as of 12:25pm

Tktk

Travel pool report # 5 — RON arrival

Motorcade arrived at RON after a rainy, 53-minute drive.

No signage visible along the way, although a number of cars honked as we passed along Grand Central Pkwy. Pool determined them to be pro-Biden (repeated, staccato) rather than anti (long and drawn out). H/t NYT's Doug Mills on the auditory diagnosis. Throngs of poncho-wearing, umbrella-sporting onlookers filmed and waved from behind barricades and NYC police officers as the motorcade winded its way through downtown.

Pool did not see POTUS enter the hotel and, we're currently holding ahead of tonight's fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall.

Travel pool report #6 — Hunter Biden sighting

Pool ran into Hunter Biden inside the hotel, who said he was excited about tonight's fundraiser.

The president's son was accompanied by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and son, Beau.

Travel pool report #7 — SmartLess interview

Passing along from WH

The President joined Presidents Obama and Clinton for an interview with the podcast SmartLess. This episode will air at a later date.

Travel pool report #8 — rolling

The rain has abated in NYC, and the motorcade is rolling for POTUS' fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall as of 5:24pm

Pool did not put eyes on POTUS entering his vehicle

Tktk

Travel pool report #9 — RCMH arrival

Motorcade arrived at RCMH after just a 6 minute drive (5:30pm).

Again, throngs of onlookers flanked the cordoned off streets. Pool did not see any noticeable protesters.

No sight of POTUS entering the venue, and pool is moving to a hold location

Tktk

Travel pool report #10 — campaign event bg

Passing along from the Biden campaign

On behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign:

President Biden arrived with President Obama and President Clinton at Radio City Music Hall, where the Biden campaign will hold a fundraiser this evening that has already raised over $25 million.

Travel pool report #11 — program beginning

Pool was ushered out of the Rockettes dressing room and toward the theater at 8:37pm.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and First Lady Jill Biden all delivered remarks prior to pool getting into the room. Lizzo also performed her hit "About Damn Time" prior to MC Mindy Kaling's opening riff.

Kaling joked that it was nice to be in a room with "so many rich people," adding that she loved they were supporting a president who "openly" promises to "raise your taxes."

Another joke about how she's getting older but compared to Biden, Obama, and Clinton, she looks like a "cast member on Euphoria"

Kaling: "the reason we are here is to re-elect President Joe Biden"

^mentioned that her reason for backing Biden is her "kids"

Tktk

Travel pool report #12 — photo line

Passing along from WH

Participating in a photo line with the President, President Obama and President Clinton at Radio City Music Hall:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08)
Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-12)
Rep. Gregory Meeks (NY-05)
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13)

Travel pool report #13 — protesters

Gaza protesters began interrupting during the triple presidents Q&A

One was whistling and shouting "you're out of your fucking minds" while being forced out of the room

Tktk

Travel pool report #13b — protester correction + more

The protester yelling obscenities was actually yelling about a nuclear war with Russia, WH staff alerted the pool

Other protesters continued to interrupt all 3 presidents during their remarks on Gaza… multiple yelled "blood on your hands"

Remarks ongoing

Tktk

Travel pool report #14 — event concludes

Remarks ended at 9:52pm after Colbert asked if Biden had seen his impression of him.

The bit concluded with SC, Obama, and Clinton donning Aviators.

Biden joked that he's a man who "loves two things: Ray Ban sunglasses and ice cream"

"By the way, Dark Brandon is real," he added as pool was ushered out.

Pool moving to motorcade as of 9:55pm. Quotes to follow

Travel pool report #15 — more bg from campaign

Passing along from Biden campaign

On behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign:

President Biden participated in an armchair conversation with President Obama and President Clinton, moderated by Late Night's Stephen Colbert.

The conversation capped off a program kicked off by First Lady Jill Biden and hosted by Mindy Kaling with musical guests Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, and Lea Michele.

Travel pool report #16 — rolling

Motorcade is rolling back to RON as of 10:53pm

Pool did not see POTUS enter his vehicle and is still working on full quotes from the event.

Tktk

Travel pool report #17 — quotes part 1

Biden, Obama, Clinton, and Stephen Colbert took the stage at 8:58pm, as Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" played over the PA.

The following marks your pooler's best effort at catching everything that occurred during the moderated discussion. You can clearly see portions which were interrupted by protesters. As always, please check against the official transcript when available.

—————

SC: "Mr. Presidents thank you so much for joining me this evening. This is an especially exciting and rare occasion. Three presidents have all come to New York, and not one of them is here to appear in court."

"We have limited time together here, so I'm going to hold you two gentlemen President Obama, President Clinton. I'm gonna hold you to five minute answers... President Biden because you are the sitting president, and
you get seven minutes, because as the sitting president, you can order SEAL Team 6to take me out, which according to Donald Trump's lawyers is perfectly ok."

"This election really feels like the most important election of our lives. First question for you, President Biden. How would you describe what's at stake in this election?"

JB: "I think our democracy is at stake, not a joke. I think democracy is a literally at stake. I wasn't gonna run in 2020 because I just lost my son Beau a little earlier, and so I watched what happened down in Virginia, where those folks came out of the fields carrying torches and Nazi flags and accompanied by white supremacist, and a woman was killed, a bystander. Now the president was asked, the former president was asked what he thought. He said they're very fine people on both sides,.. Think about the things [Trump] has said, think about the things he wants to do. He's indicated that he really wants to have the first day of his new term quote unquote, will be one where he engages in absolute autonomy, and he can do whatever he wants to do...."

"I think a lot's at stake, but I'm really hopeful because I think we get by this election, not because of me, we get by this election, and we're in a position where we can set the course for the next four or five, six decades in a way that can make us much much better."

"We're at an inflection point in history. This guy denies there is a global warming. This guy wants to get rid of not only Roe v. Wade, by the way which he brags about having not he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone anywhere in America has ever to choose — All the things he's doing are so old. A little old and out of shape, but anyway."

SB to Obama and Clinton: Is there anything you'd like the add to that state of urgency.

BO: "Well, I think it's worth adding, it's not just the negative case against the presumptive nominee on the other side. It's the positive case for somebody who's done an outstanding job. Sometimes we forget where we started, and where we are now. You got a record breaking job market. You've got an employment rate that is low as it has been for African Americans, by the way the lowest on record. ever. You've extraordinary progress building off the work we did, first by Bill Clinton passing the Children's Health Insurance Act, we passed the Affordable Care Act. Joe Biden takes the baton ,and he's now expanded coverage, he's made sure that seniors are seeing big discounts in their prescription drugs, capping insulin drug prices, capping the price of insulin at 35 bucks were it used to cost up to 400... we could obviously go on. Are my five minutes up yet? ... "

"The point is that — look passions get stirred by what we're against and Joe is absolutely right t hat we've got not just a nominee, but frankly a party and an entire infrastructure that increasingly seems unconcerned with the essence of America. The idea of self governance and the possibilities of us all full operating and bridging are differences and moving forward. But we also have a positive story to tell about the future. And that is something that Joe Biden has worked on, diligently each and every day on behalf of working Americans and I expect him to continue to do that for the next four years and eight months."

BC: "he's really done a good job. The way you opened this, talking about the defense of democracy not only begs support for President Biden but also begs the question of why are we even arguing about some of the stuff? I'll tell you what's old. What's old is the United States of America. We are the longest lasting free democracy in the history of the world. One of our Republican predecessors, Dwight Eisenhower said he worried when times got tough and arguments got hot, Americans would be strong enough to preserve their democracy. And we have to realize that in order to do that, no one is going to be right all the time. Broken clock is right twice a day. And the rest of us are compelled to spend our freakin lives going back and forth between trying to be right all the time, and at least trying to be better than being right twice a day. Into that mess that President Biden inherited was a very vibrant, diverse society and economy. And you know, President Trump, let's be honest, had a pretty good couple of years, because he stole from Barack Obama..."

"I listened to him tell us how terrible the American economy was all during 2016. And then, by January 2017, after the inauguration, it had become wonderful, miraculously, overnight. Well, what happened was actually job growth under President Trump was slower than it was under President Obama. But people didn't feel it. It takes a while to feel it. So then he came and claimed it for everything. Then all of a sudden, Joe Biden comes along and creates roughly twice as many jobs. So I believe in keeping score. Not in a vindictive way but in a positive way. He's been good for America and he deserves another term.

SC: I want to point out that we are 10 minutes in, and I have asked one question. I want to do a quick lightning round here. Do any of you have plans to sell golden sneakers or $60 bibles? Show of hands?

JB: "No golden sneakers."

SC: President Obama, President Clinton what do you miss about being president? Is it nice to live in the White House or do you always feel like you're in a museum? For you also, President Biden, is that a nice place to live?

BC: I loved living there. The last time I walked out, the day before I left —

******* at this point the first protester (whistling and yelling obscenities about Russia and Ukraine) interrupted the conversation, followed by other pro-Gaza protesters, but the group continued.

SC: "Excuse me, Mr. President. For people who are watching at home on the feed, you may not be able to hear but there's some protesters here. There are some protesters here who are no doubt related to the protests we saw across the street. Everyone in here saw the protests across the street before we came in, and this is a subject I was going to get to later but as long as it's been brought up here, Mr. Biden, I wanted to ask you this question. As the leader of the United States and as the leader of the alliance of democratic nations, and also aware of the moral leadership that the United States provides the entire world. There are people outside and people in this room I'm sure, who have passionate divisions about what the best course of action is for the crisis in Israel in Gaza right now. What do you believe the United States' role should be going forward to ensure the most peaceful and prosperous future for the people of Israel and for Gaza?

**** more protesters

JB: That's alright. Let them go. There's a lot of people who are very, very — there are too many innocent victims, Israeli and Palestinian. We've got to get more food and medicine, supplies into the Palestinians. But we can't forget, Israel is in a position where its very existence as at stake. You have to have all those people. They weren't killed. They were massacred. They were massacred. And imagine if that had happened in the United States and tying a mom and her daughter together, pouring kerosene on them, burning them to death. It's understandable Israel has such a profound anger and Hamas is still there. But we must in fact, stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians, particularly children."

**** more Gaza protesters

"I won't go into detail now. But look, I've been working with the Saudis and with all the other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan and Qatar. They're prepared to fully recognize Israel. Fully recognize Israel for the first time. But there has to be a post Gaza plan, and there has to be a train to a two state solution. It doesn't have to occur today, but there has to be a progression, and I think we can do that. I think we can do that. That's why we're seeing more avenues open into Israel — excuse me, into Gaza— to bring food and medicine and there's much more we can do. But I'm confident it can be done and Israel's integrity, Israel's security, where Israel can be preserved."

**** CHANTS OF "4 MORE YEARS"

BO: "You asked earlier about being in the White House. No, no you'll see there is some relevance here. It is a lonely seat. One of the things I miss is the incredible team that you have around. Some of the smartest, most dedicated, selfless people who are out sacrificing there, putting heroic Herculean efforts into just trying to make the world work."

JB: "Every time you show up to the White House, they all come to say thank you. I'm not joking. The affection is overwhelming."

BO: Well, I appreciate that. So you have this incredible team, and I think Bill and I we've talked about it, that's one of the things you miss most. But although it's a team, you're still ultimately the person who has to make the calls. And one of the realities of the presidency is that the world has a lot of joy and beauty, but it also has a lot of tragedy and cruelty. And, there's history there, and you don't start from scratch. You don't have any easy answers to really hard problems. And I think people understandably oftentimes want to feel a certain surety in terms of how those decisions are made. But a president doesn't have that luxury. And so when you look at a situation like we're seeing in Gaza and in Israel, and your heart breaks, initially for a massacre of unbelievable cruelty .It is also possible for us to say we unequivocally support the people of Israel and their ability to live and raise families and so forth. Which is what Joe's position has been, and it is also possible for us to have our hearts broken, watching innocent people being killed and trying to manage through that in a way that ultimately leads to both people being able to live in peace side by side. So that is not an easy task, and so the reason

*** more protesters

BO: "No, no listen. You can't just talk and not listen... That's what the other side does. And it is possible for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs, but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems.

The reason why I originally selected Joe Biden to be my vice president. The reason that I think he was one of the best vice president we've ever had, and the reason why I think he has been an outstanding president is because he has moral conviction and clarity. But he's also willing to acknowledge that the world is complicated, and that he's willing to listen to all sides in this debate and every other debate and try to see if we can find common ground . That's the kind of president I want."

BC: "I know there are many other things we need to talk about. I believe that this is one of the most important reasons to elect President Biden. And I'm going to tell you why. Because he genuinely cares about preserving the existence of Israel, which Hamas doesn't. And he genuinely cares about giving the Palestinians a decent state of self governance and the support they need for self determination."

"Look, the world we live in is hard because you have to keep two apparently conflicting ideas in your head at the same time. But don't forget ,those of you who particularly if you're younger and all you know is the Israeli government denying the rights of the Palestinians... Joe Biden says he wants a two-state solution. We all lived through the same things. He's not making this up. We lived this, and you should trust them to work for it. To work to ease the suffering of the totally innocent Palestinian citizens and not to allow Israel's security to be lost over a bitter difference between the legitimacy of the Palestinians' to statehood, which we agree with all three of us

TKTKTK

Travel pool report #18 — back at RON

Motorcade arrived back at RON at 10:56pm

Pool did not see POTUS enter the building. More quotes from remarks to follow

Travel pool report #19 — lid

Called at 11:00pm. More quotes coming

Travel pool report #20 — quotes pt 2

SC: Three weeks ago you gave an energetic State of the Union address.And for almost 8,000 words, you never said your predecessor's name. And a lot of people out there complaining that there's Trump-nesia. People don't remember what it was like when he was president. I remember what it was like. I remember particularly how I came to a hypothesis on that terrible day on January 6. I remember my feelings that day, but I have never heard you talk about what was going through your mind that day. What were you thinking when you saw that unfold?

JB: "We had no president on January the sixth. There was an insurrection. That happened."

****** more protesters

"And here's what happened. I was supposed to make a speech on the economy. And I decided I couldn't remain silent. So what I did was I made a speech about January 6th what was happening, and I said there's an insurrection underway, and it must be dealt with. And I plead with the president to stop and do his job. Call these people off. He sat there in the dining room off the Oval Office for several hours and watched, didn't do a damn thing. And that's why I felt obliged, when I wasn't even sworn in yet — I was president elect — and I went out and said, This is what we should be doing and laid it out... It's not only that he said, it wasn't an insurrection. He says that what was happening was totally legitimate. That these people were patriots. He's calling them patriots. You noticed he starts off all his rallies with them singing from prison, and him interjecting with a stick with the pledge of allegiance or whatever. I'm not sure exactly what he does with it. But the end result of it is he says he if he were to be freely elected, he's going to pardon all of them. By the way, he means it. He means it. And here's what's gonna happen. And these guys were there on inauguration day. You walked through the corridors, broken glass mattered statues. The actual place where I was sworn in was a mess. Because these guys had rampaged through it and look, real quick story — I went to the G7 meeting, and that's the meeting of European heads of state and the president... I sat down and I said 'America's back.' The French leader looked at me and said 'for how long?' It wasn't humorous, he was serious, but he said for how long? And then the German Chancellor looked at me said 'what would you think, Mr. President, if in fact, you pick up the paper tomorrow and sound out there in Great Britain, on the London Times headline says, Mob storms Parliament, breaks down the door to the House of Commons to protest the election and two bobbies were killed? What would you think back in America? Think about that. What would you say if another democracy, and not the leading democracy, went through this thing? What happened? What would you say? And the rest of the world looks to us like we are the essential nation, and that's not pounding our chest. Everybody in the world looks to us. Imagine what would happen. Madeleine Albright, your secretary of state, was right when she talked about we are the essential nation, and we have to lead... Like I was saying, 'you know I'm gonna be a dictator on the first day'. He's not joking. He's serious about this and it really shakes the entire foundation of the world in terms of what's going on. So that's why we have — Why do you think you'd ever have a president states and the people's he talked about — the love letters with the North Korean dictator. He talks about his closeness with Putin and and Kim Jong Un, I mean, this is a guy that prefers view of the world."

SC: Presidents Obama and Clinton, you both know how this office works, obviously, and the extent of power and the pitfalls of power. When Donald Trump was president, what kept you up at night? And before you answer, you can't both say my show. I get and I'm flattered. Thank you. What kept you up at night about that presidency.

BO: I want to emphasize the point Joe just made about how we believe that four year stretch affected views of America around the world. America is imperfect. We have not always abided by our founding documents. We fought a civil war and enormous struggles were fought to try to perfect our union. And we, in our actions overseas, sometimes did not live up to our ideals. But what has always made America exceptional is this radical idea that you can get people from every corner of the globe. They don't look alike, don't have the same name, worship differently, speak different languages, have different cultural traditions. And somehow they're going to come together under a set of rules. And we're all going to pledge that — that's our creed. That we can live together, self governing, have a representative government, peacefully transfer power and that ideal matters. It matters to our children and our grandchildren, and it matters around the world. When we see a de emphasis when America is not forthright in speaking on behalf of those ideals. You see, back sliding around the world. You see authoritarians emboldened around the world. You see aggression around the world because there's no check. And when we're living up to those ideals, even in difficult times, things feel a little bit better. Not just here, but elsewhere. People are a little bit more hopeful. So what would keep me up during those four years was how badly are those ideals tarnished? The good news is that people still want to believe in those ideas... They want to believe in the idea that all people are equal. Women are equal and have the right to control their bodies... And girls should be able to go to school just like everybody else. And people of different sexual orientations should have the same rights and protection. Religious minorities and ethnic minorities and racial minorities all deserve the same respect and are afforded the same dignity as everybody else. Those ideas, they can ebb and flow depending on what happens in the White House. And the good news is, is that we had a period of time where those ideals were not just de-emphasized, but were violated, and then we have somebody come back in who says no, no — we do believe that. This is what America is about. And that's the same test we're going to be undergoing over the next eight months. We have got to believe in those basic ideas, and if we do, not only are we going to be ok, but the world's going to be ok.

JB: Think about this. This is not hyperbole. We're the most unique nation in the world in this sense. Every other nations is founded based on geography, ethnicity, religion. No, that's not us. We came about as a consequence of an idea, an idea. No, I'm serious about it. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal endowed because — that's the basis for our existence. We haven't always lived up to it. We've never fully walked away from it. Until now, someone's contemplating walking away from it completely. Our diversity is our strength.

BC: "This is the big reason you should win. And that is that everything you said is true. But it only works. If we all live under the same set of rules. We all have an equal set of chances to make it and we treat each other with respect. We find our differences, we have our arguments. I'll never forget a prominent member of the other party on the right once looked at my Chief of Staff and said, you and the president actually think we should all have the same set of rules. He said, Yeah, that's what we thought America is all about. He said, 'we don't believe. We think we should first do what's best for our party then argue about the rest.' That's what's at the heart of this. Joe Biden has bent over backwards to reach out to members of the other party. To negotiate...

In the case of the border, his apparent opponent basically said, 'Hey!' to his own party. 'You can't do that. Get off that bill. We need a problem, not a solution at the border.' Well you know, I think life has plenty of problems... But the problem is, they're good at branding and blaming, and we don't like their solution so much. He's good at finding solutions people are actually glad to embrace. And that's why you should win."

Travel pool report #21 — quotes pt 3

SC: We are running short on time. You're all busy man, you gotta go run the world. Here's an important question. All three of you have been on Air Force One. You still have the keys, Mr. Biden. That's made my Boeing right? Do those doors stay on? Before you get on, do you give Pete Buttigieg a socket wrench to tighten the bolts?

JB: "I don't sit by the door. I'm only kidding. I shouldn't even joke about it. One thing I can tell you about Air Force One. We're not changing the color. Trump wanted to change the color.

BO: "Yeah, we're not doing that."

SC: Since the State of the Union, President Biden, you've been busy. You've been in Raleigh, Saginaw, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Vegas. Hotlanta, the Philly suburbs, Dallas, Houston. Donald Trump, as far as we can tell, has just been trying to win a third championship at his own golf course. My question to you sir is can voters trust a presidential candidate who has not won a single Trump International Golf Club trophy? At long last, sir, have you no chip shot?

JB: "Look, I'd be happy to play. I told him this once before when he came into the Oval before he was sworn in. I said, 'I'll give you three strokes but you carry your own bag. I've only played 21 holes since I've been president."

SC: President Obama, I've been lucky enough to spend some time with you and your wife. She has repeatedly asked me to call her Michelle, which I now do. I say hello, Michelle. I continue to call you, Mr. President because you have never invited me to call you anything else. So my question is to Presidents Biden and Clinton, don't you think at this point, I should be able to call him Barack because it's weird. I went to your house and I said hello, Michelle. Hello, Mr. President. I'm not asking for, Barry. Come on.

BO: "No, but your wife can. I like her... That's the reason you might not get another invitation."

JB: "I told these guys for the first two years — for real — every time I've been introduced and they play Hail to the Chief, I turn around and say, 'where the hell are they?'"

SC: "You were this man's vice president for eight very exciting years. What on your first day in the Oval Office as the President did you learn anything immediately where you went, 'he could have told me about this?'"

JB: "I learned that with the president — I always kid the president, I'd get to be the last person to speak to him and give him my advice. And he'd thank me, and I'd walk out knowing he has to make the decision. But that's the big difference. And as Harry Truman said, the president, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. I got one and get a Secret Service agent."

SC: "Before we go, President Biden, they've been a lot of jokes about your age and I've done a lot of them, and they've been very successful. Thank you. for that. What would you like to say to the people who think that you're too seasoned for the job?"

JB: "Well I don't know about seasoned but I hope they're not too old of ideas. You know, this last guy that I ran against and am running against again this time, is his ideas are from the 18th 19th century. No, I'm serious. This is the way he talks about when he says he's gonna suspend the Constitution, all the things he said. But look, I think that there is, if you pay attention, and you've been around a while, no matter what your background is, if you pay attention, one thing age does bring is a little bit of wisdom. And I know I don't look much over forty I know that. All kidding aside, I think one of the advantages that I've had, I got to work for and with both of these men. I got to serve in the Senate a long time, and I got to know the place and I think at least I present — we got elected, everybody told me we couldn't do anything we got done. Literally anything. Couldn't get done. We couldn't get the CHIPS Act. We couldn't get the veterans act. All these things we're told we couldn't get done, but there are still enough people in the Republican Party. This is not your father's Republican Party. This is a different breed of cat. This is the — about 30 to 40% of the MAGA Republicans. And I don't know what — the thing that disturbs me most is I don't know what it is that my predecessor has on these guys. Why they're not stepping up more like Liz Cheney and others because I know, I know that they don't like a lot of what's going on. For example, these guys are not going to vote again. They don't want to vote against Social Security, they don't want to cut social security benefits, they don't like what's happening with Roe v. Wade. By the way, elect me and we're going to restore Roe v Wade. Anyway, I see those three zeroes on that clock so I'm going to hush up."

SC: Yes, we are just out about time here, but before we go, I wanted to talk to you President Clinton for just a moment. You oversaw a rapidly growing economy in the 1990s. And you oversaw a huge increase in our economy. What do you think people need to know who might be watching — the voters out there — who may not yet see or feel in their pocket the growth of the Biden economy?

BC: "Well, I think first of all, there's two things we've been through since I left the White House that changed the rules for everybody. One was the financial crash of 2008, which marred and limited what President Obama could accomplish early and required him to invest a lot of government money to try to jumpstart the economy in the program that he put President Biden, then vice president, in charge of running. And he did a heck of a good job. We had good recovery, but they were criticized for the deficit spending. But the truth is, when interest rates are zero or negative you have to invest money, and only the government can do it. And there was a $3 trillion hole in the economy that they spent $800 billion starting to fix. And it worked great. But by the end of President Obama's eight years, we had a roaring economy, but people didn't feel it yet. It normally takes two or three years of real changes before people knew it. So when Donald Trump got elected by telling everybody how terrible it was, all of a sudden he was elected, he said how great it was. And it was, but it was pretty great to day before for too. So anyway, then we had COVID. It was devastating in human ways and economic waste. So President Biden gets in, and he doesn't want to undershoot the way the Republicans required President Obama when he was president. So he says, 'Give me this big recovery program,' which is not everything he asked for, but it was big and robust. And he starts to implement it. And he gets criticized because not all problems are solved. Whole sections of the international economy — supply chains, everything was thrown out of whack. And Joe Biden and Vice President Harris and their whole team methodically began trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. And we're doing really well.
Yes, there was inflation but there is nothing he could have done about that. Unless it was to turn the country into a depression. I mean, when you start — when everything stops, so you got a shortage of everything, and the supply chains are all messed up — there's gonna be inflation in the beginning. But he's building all these chip plants around America and doing all these other things. I noticed we finally got a big electric charging station for — in Queens for all the yellow cabs. Stuff like that. This stuff is happening."

JB: "And we cut the deficit."

BC: "It's gonna get better and better and better and better and better. So, we should not make 2016's mistake. We should stay with what works, and not a lot of people who try to undo it take credit for what happened."

BO: "I do want to make this point. Because Joe understands this deeply, Bill understood it. There are structural problems in the economy that can frustrate people. Long term trends in terms of growing inequality because of globalization and technology. The suppression of unions which Joe has specifically battled against...
And so the frustrations that people feel in a lot of situations, if you're working hard and your paycheck is getting stretched beyond the breaking point, and you're worried about rent and you're concerned about the price of gas. It's understandable. And one of the things that all three of us accept when you have this extraordinary privilege of serving the American people is, if it's happening on your watch, and even if you didn't have anything to do with it, even if you're making progress, there's going to be frustrations and sometimes those will be directed towards your office. That's part of the deal. But the thing that not only Joe has to communicate, we who support Joe have to communicate, is at the end of the day, who do you think is actually going to look out for you? Who do you actually think is going to fight on your behalf? Who's gone through tough financial times. Who has actually experienced the worry of a child getting sick and you try to figure out how you're going to pay for it? And Joe has gone through those struggles. He's got family members who have experienced that fear and pay and have gotten knocked down and had to get back up.
And at the end of the day, what you want, not just out of your president, but out of your government, is people whose values are rooted in wanting to make sure everybody gets a shot. That is willing to fight on behalf of people who weren't born into privilege, and that's who Joe Biden is. When we make an argument about the economy, it's not because we don't recognize that there are real problems and that there are entire communities that are still feeling like they're being left behind and it's legitimate for them to feel frustrated, and they're gonna occasionally take it out on the president. And that's fair, because, you know, Joe volunteered for the job, as we all did. But at the end of the day, you do have to make a choice and the question then becomes, who is it that really sees you and cares about you? I can — I'm pretty confident the other guy doesn't. This guy does."

JB: "My dad was a very well read guy who didn't get to go to college. He got in to Johns Hopkins in a Baltimore. The war began. He never got to go. But my dad used to say, 'Joey a job's about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about your family. It's about having a little bit left over at the end of the month just a little bit. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything's going to be ok and mean it. What I decided to do, is to follow along with what these guys have done. I wanted to build a middle class — build an economy for the middle class out and the bottom up. When that happens everybody does well, and the wealthy do very well. But guess what, guys? Anybody who thinks the tax system is fair. It's about time the very, super wealthy started paying their fair share. There's 1000 billionaires in America. If we in fact just raise their — and you know what they pay in taxes? 8.3% of their income, federal taxes. If they just made 25%, we'd raise it $400 million, billion over 10 years and we'd be able to wipe out the debt, we'd be able to do so much more just paying your fair share. By the way we cut the deficit, with the Medicare things we changed, that saves the taxpayer $170 billion because they don't have to pay the price. Anyway I want to get going wrap up I'm wrapping up."

**** Colbert's aviators bit occurred here at the end