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Joe Biden: Remarks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner - April 30, 2022
Full Transcript
Joe Biden
00:00:00-00:22:00 (23 sec)Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Steve, for that introduction. And a special thanks to the 42 percent of you who actually applauded. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
00:22:00-00:36:00 (14 sec)I'm really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I have. [Laughter] That's hard to say after what we just saw. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
00:36:00-00:48:00 (12 sec)This is the first time a President attended this dinner in six years. [Applause] It's understandable. We had a horrible plague followed by two years of COVID. [Laughter and applause]
Joe Biden
00:48:00-01:21:00 (34 sec)Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now, that would really have been a real coup if that occurred. [Laughter] A little tough, huh? [Laughter]
Joe Biden
01:21:00-01:26:00 (5 sec)But I'm honored to be here at such an event with so much history.
Joe Biden
01:26:00-01:48:00 (21 sec)As already referenced, the very first President to attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner was Calvin Coolidge in 1924. I had just been elected to the United States Senate. [Laughter] And I reme- -- I remember telling him, "Cal, just be yourself. Get up there and speak from the heart. You're going to be great, kid. You're going to do it well." [Laughter]
Joe Biden
01:48:00-02:05:00 (17 sec)Of course, Jill is with me tonight. Jilly, how are you, kid? [Applause] I think -- I think she's doing an incredible job as First Lady. [Applause] The First Lady to continue working full-time, and she does as a professor.
Joe Biden
02:05:00-02:19:00 (14 sec)She doesn't pay much attention to the polls, though she did say the other day: Instead of introducing myself as Jill Biden's husband, maybe I should introduce myself as her roommate. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
02:19:00-02:35:00 (17 sec)I've attended this dinner many times, but this is my first time as President. And the organizers had -- had it hard -- made it pretty hard for me tonight. Although the good news is, if all goes well, I have a real shot at replacing James Corden. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
02:35:00-02:52:00 (17 sec)It was great having him over at the White House the other day, just as he announced he's leaving the show. A great performer is going out on top after eight years in the job. Sounds just about right to me. [Laughter and applause]
Joe Biden
02:52:00-03:00:00 (8 sec)And it's tough to follow pros like James and Billy Eichner. Billy, where are you again? Do you -- where is he?
Joe Biden
03:00:00-03:17:00 (17 sec)Well, Billy, you're famous for interviewing -- your interviewing skills. Billy, you should know what you're doing, pal. You know it -- you know it well. And you should -- I think you should host "Meet the Press." Maybe they'll start to watch it again. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
03:17:00-03:27:00 (10 sec)I've never had -- [laughs] -- never had to -- [laughs] -- I've never had to open -- I'll never be -- I'll never be invited to "Meet the Press" again. Anyway. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
03:27:00-03:43:00 (16 sec)I've never had to open before Trevor Noah. Trevor is great. When I was elected, he did a show and he called me "America's new dad." [Laughter] Let me tell you something, pal: I'm flattered anybody would call me a "new" anything. [Laughter] You're my guy.
Joe Biden
03:43:00-03:50:00 (7 sec)And, folks, it's been a tough few years for the country. That's one reason why it's great to be here again.
Joe Biden
03:50:00-04:02:00 (12 sec)Everyone at the White House is so excited. I told my grandkids and Pete Buttigieg they could stay up late and watch this show tonight. [Laughter and applause]
Joe Biden
04:02:00-04:11:00 (9 sec)Tonight -- tonight we come here and answer a very important question on everybody's mind: Why in the hell are we still doing this? [Laughter]
Joe Biden
04:11:00-04:29:00 (18 sec)I know there are -- I know there are questions about whether we should gather here tonight because of COVID. Well, we're here to show the country that we're getting through this pandemic. Plus, everyone had to prove they were fully vaccinated and boosted. [Applause]
Joe Biden
04:29:00-04:41:00 (12 sec)So, if you're at home watching this and you're wondering how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They're all here, vaccinated and boosted -- all of them. [Laughter and applause]
Joe Biden
04:41:00-05:10:00 (29 sec)And, look, Fox -- Fox News, I'm -- I'm really sorry your preferred candidate lost the last election. To make it up to you, I'm happy to give my Chief of Staff to you all so he can tell Sean Hannity what to say every day. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
05:10:00-05:25:00 (15 sec)In fact, Ron Klain is here at the CBS table, which hired Mick Mulvaney. Mick, on CBS? I was stunned. I figured he'd end up on "The Masked Singer" with Rudy. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
05:25:00-05:28:00 (4 sec)Amazing hire, guys. Really quite amazing.
Joe Biden
05:28:00-05:41:00 (13 sec)Look, I know this is a tough town. I came to office with an ambitious agenda, and I expected it to face stiff opposition in the Senate. I just hoped it would be from Republicans. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
05:41:00-05:55:00 (14 sec)But I'm not worried about the midterms. I'm not worried about them. We may end up with more partisan gridlock, but I'm confident we can work it out during my remaining six years in the presidency. [Applause]
Joe Biden
05:55:00-06:05:00 (10 sec)And, folks, I'm not really here to roast the GOP. That's not my style. Besides, there's nothing I can say about the GOP that Kevin McCarthy hasn't already put on tape. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
06:05:00-06:23:00 (18 sec)And, you know, at the same -- at the same time, a lot of people say the Republican Party is too extreme, too divisive, too controlled by one person. They say, "It's not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
06:23:00-06:36:00 (13 sec)Ronald Reagan said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down." Today's Republicans say, "Tear down Mickey Mouse's house." [Laughter] And pretty soon, they'll be storming Cinderella's Castle, you can be sure of it.
Joe Biden
06:36:00-06:55:00 (19 sec)But Republicans seem to support one fella -- some guy named Brandon. [Laughter] He's having a really good year, and I'm kind of happy for him. [Laughter and applause]
Joe Biden
06:55:00-06:58:00 (3 sec)Let me conclude with a serious word.
Joe Biden
06:58:00-07:14:00 (16 sec)We live in serious times. We're coming through a devastating pandemic, and we have to stay vigilant. I know Kamala wanted to be here, for example, and thankfully she's doing well. You should all know she sends her best. [Applause]
Joe Biden
07:14:00-07:23:00 (9 sec)We're in a time when what we so long have taken for granted is facing the gravest of threats. And I'm being deadly earnest.
Joe Biden
07:23:00-07:35:00 (12 sec)Oversear [sic] -- overseas, the liberal world order that laid the foundation for global peace, stability, and prosperity since World War Two is genuinely, seriously under assault.
Joe Biden
07:35:00-07:52:00 (16 sec)And at home, a poison is running through our democracy of all -- all of this taking place with disinformation massively on the rise, where the truth is buried by lies and the lies live on as truth.
Joe Biden
07:52:00-08:06:00 (14 sec)What's clear -- and I mean this from the bottom of my heart -- that you, the free press, matter more than you ever did in the last century. [Applause] No, I really mean it.
Joe Biden
08:06:00-08:21:00 (15 sec)I've always believed that good journalism holds up a mirror to ourselves to reflect on the good, the bad, and the true. Tonight, I want to congratulate the awardees and the scholarship winners who carry on that sacred tradition.
Joe Biden
08:21:00-08:43:00 (22 sec)We've all seen the courage of the Ukrainian people because of the courage of American reporters in this room and your colleagues across the world who are on the ground, taking their lives in their own hands. [Applause]
Joe Biden
08:43:00-08:47:00 (4 sec)And although it's not in Ukraine, it's Russia -- Mom, I'd like to meet you and Dad to talk about your son.
Joe Biden
08:47:00-09:11:00 (25 sec)We just -- we just saw a heartbreaking video: Nine have been killed reporting from Kyiv -- struck by a kamikaze drone strike after a shopping mall attack; shot in the neck while decounci- [sic] -- while -- while documenting Ukrainians fleeing; killed when Russian missiles hit the television tower in a residential neighborhood. One journalist from Radio Liberty just killed days ago.
Joe Biden
09:11:00-09:30:00 (19 sec)So many of you telling the stories and taking the photos and recording the videos of what's happening there, the unvarnished truth shown -- showing the -- the destruction and the devastation and, yes, the war crimes.
Joe Biden
09:30:00-09:52:00 (22 sec)Tonight, we also honor the legacy of two historic reporters, and that is Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne. I'm glad you saw that tonight. [Applause] I didn't know you were doing that. These are the first Black women to be White House reporters who shattered convention to cover a segregated nation.
Joe Biden
09:52:00-10:01:00 (10 sec)We honor journalists killed, missing, imprisoned, detained, and tortured; covering war, exposing corruption, and holding leaders accountable.
Joe Biden
10:01:00-10:16:00 (14 sec)We honor members of the press, both national and local, covering a once-in-a-century pandemic where we lost a million Americans, a generation reckoning on race, and the existential threat of climate change.
Joe Biden
10:16:00-10:24:00 (8 sec)The free press is not the enemy of the people -- far from it. At your best, you're guardians of the truth.
Joe Biden
10:24:00-10:34:00 (10 sec)President Kennedy once said, and I quote, "Without debate, without criticism, no administration, no country can succeed,
Joe Biden
10:34:00-10:37:00 (3 sec)and no republic can survive."
Joe Biden
10:37:00-10:56:00 (19 sec)The First Amendment grants a free press extraordinary protection, but with it comes, as many of you know, a very heavy obligation: to seek the truth as best you can -- not to inflame or entertain, but to illuminate and educate.
Joe Biden
10:56:00-11:02:00 (5 sec)I know it's tough. And I'm not being solicitous. The industry is changing significantly.
Joe Biden
11:02:00-11:23:00 (21 sec)There's incredible pressure on you all to deliver heat instead of shed light, because the technology is changing so much, the system is changing. But it matters. No kidding. It matters. The truth matters.
Joe Biden
11:23:00-11:37:00 (14 sec)American democracy is not a reality show. [Applause] It's not a reality show. [Applause] It's reality itself. And the reality is that we are a great country.
Joe Biden
11:37:00-11:49:00 (12 sec)Our future is bright. It's not guaranteed, because democracy is never guaranteed. It has to be earned. It has to be defended. It has to be protected.
Joe Biden
11:49:00-12:01:00 (12 sec)As you've heard me say many times: There's not a damn thing this country can't do when we stand united and do it together. And I know we can do anything we want to do that's right.
Joe Biden
12:01:00-12:13:00 (12 sec)I've been around a long time, as has been pointed out many times tonight. [Laughter] But I give you my word as a Biden: I've never been more optimistic about America than I am today. I really mean it.
Joe Biden
12:13:00-12:24:00 (10 sec)At times of enormous change, it presents enormous opportunities. For despite all the crises, all the partisanship, all the shouting and the showmanship,
Joe Biden
12:24:00-12:33:00 (9 sec)I really know this and you know it too: We are a great nation because we're basically a good people.
Joe Biden
12:33:00-12:47:00 (14 sec)And here in America, good journalism, good satire about our leaders, about our society is quintessentially an American thing. It demonstrates the power of our example.
Joe Biden
12:47:00-12:58:00 (11 sec)And I, honest to God, believe it reveals our soul -- the soul of our nation. And that's what I'd like to toast tonight, if I may.
Note
12:58:00-12:58:00 (0 sec)[The President offers a toast]
Joe Biden
12:58:00-13:11:00 (13 sec)To the journalists and their families, to the people and their elected representatives, to the United States of America. [Applause]
Joe Biden
13:11:00-13:18:00 (7 sec)And by the way, Madeleine Albright was right: We are the indispensable nation. [Applause]
Joe Biden
13:18:00-13:27:00 (9 sec)Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to turn this over to Trevor now, strap myself into my seat. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
13:27:00-13:40:00 (13 sec)And, Trevor, the really good news is: Now you get to roast the President of the United States and, unlike in Moscow, you won't go to jail. [Laughter]
Joe Biden
13:40:00-13:42:00 (1 sec)The podium is yours. [Applause]