Joe Biden

"Russia’s support for Assad also failed. And that’s because Ukraine, backed by our American allies, has put up a wall of resistance against the invading Russian forces, inflicting massive damage on the Russian forces. And that has left Russia unable to protect its main ally in the Middle East."

"Looking ahead, the United States will do the following: First, we’ll support Syria’s neighbors — including Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Israel — should any threat arise from Syria during this period of transition. I will speak with leaders of the region in the coming days. I had long discussions with all of our people earlier this morning. And I’ll send senior officials from my administration to the region as well. Second, we will help stability — ensure stability in eastern Syria, protecting any personnel — our personnel against any threats. And it will remain — our mission against ISIS will be maintained, including the security of detention facilities where ISIS fighters are being held as prisoners. We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its capability and to create a safe haven. We will not let that happen."

"These past few days have been historic, and, you know, it’s in the days ahead that will determine the future of a — this country, and we intend to approach them with strength, wisdom, and resolve."

"My fellow Americans, I am speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office. Before I begin, let me speak to important news from earlier today. After eight months of nonstop negotiation, my administration — by my administration, a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas, the elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year. This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. That's why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that's how it should be: working together as Americans. This will be my final address to you from — the American people from the Oval Office, from this desk as president. And I've been thinking a lot about who we are and, maybe more importantly, who we should be."

"After 50 years at the center of all of this, I know that believing in the idea of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society: the presidency, the Congress, the courts, a free and independent press. Institutions that are rooted not — they just — not to reflect the timeless words, but they re- — they — they echo the words of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." Rooted in the timeless words of the Constitution, "We the People." Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances, it may not be perfect, but it's maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years — longer than any other nation in history that's ever tried such a bold experiment. In the past four years, our democracy has held strong. And every day, I've kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation's history."

"It's been the honor of my life to see the resilience of essential workers getting us through a once-in-a-century pandemic, the heroism of service members and first responders keeping us safe, the determination of advocates standing up for our rights and our freedoms. Instead of losing their jobs to an economic crisis that we inherited, millions of Americans now have the dignity of work; millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products. And together, we've launched a new era of American possibilities — one of the greatest modernizations of infrastructure in our entire history, from new roads, bridges, clean water, affordable high-speed Internet for every American. We invented the semiconductor — smaller than the tip of my little finger. And now it's bringing those chip factories and those jobs back to America where they belong, creating thousands of jobs. Finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for millions of seniors. And finally doing something to protect our children and our families by passing the most significant gun safety law in 30 years and bringing violent crime to a 50-year low. Meeting our sacred obligation to over 1 million veterans so far who were exposed to toxic materials, and to their families — providing medical care and education benefits and more for their families. You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we've done together. But the seeds are planted, and they'll grow and they'll bloom for decades to come. At home, we've created nearly 17 million new jobs — more than any other single administration in a …single term. More people have health care than ever before. And overseas, we've strengthened NATO. Ukraine is still free. And we've pulled ahead of our competition with China. And so much more."

"Let me close by stating my gratitude to so many people. To the members of my administration, as well as public service and first responders across the country and around the world, thank you for stepping up to serve. To our service members and your families, it's been the highest honor of my life to lead you as commander in chief. And, of course, to Kamala and her incredible partner — a historic vice president. She and Doug have become like family. And to me, family is everything. My deepest appreciation to our amazing first lady, who is with me in the Oval today, for our entire family. You are the love of my life and lifes of my love. And my eternal thanks to you, the American people. After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you for this great honor."

"Listen to me, boss," Biden told Obama, according to Obama's recent memoir recounting their conversations. "Maybe I've been around this town for too long, but one thing I know is when these generals are trying to box in a new president." According to the former President's account, Biden brought his face a few inches from Obama's and stage-whispered: "Don't let them jam you."

"Dekel-Chen according to US hostage families urge Biden-Trump cooperation to reach deal before inauguration (Today)"

"One of the things I like about the fact of the Biden-Harris plan is that they are, number one, not talking about taking people’s healthcare.... The Biden-Harris plan is talking about raising people’s living wages, $15 an hour. The Trump-Pence plan is talking about giving more money to the wealthy. In fact, the Trump-Pence-McConnell plan, they refuse to pass a stimulus because they want another $200 billion in tax cuts, they want money for a fighter jet, and they want to protect corporations from liability when those corporations didn’t protect their people from coronavirus. So, what we have is two different worlds operating.... So, on the one hand, while Pence and — while Biden and Harris may not be every, fully where the Poor People’s Campaign are, they are in the world of wanting to do more. They’re in the sphere of wanting to increase. They’re in the sphere of wanting to make sure that the people have what they need, as opposed to wanting to only secure the wealthy and the greedy."

"Everything was upside-down There was this lovely wife, who was just as much a part of the Senate win as he was, and she was gone. Joe went into himself for a time I spent a year with him. We traveled together, we skied in Vermont. His sense of frustration was intense"

"Mr. Vice President, there's a saying in my community that you're dipping into the Kool-Aid and you don't even know the flavor."

"Biden’s an empty vessel. I don’t think he has any firm principles."

"It was very obvious that Vice President Biden cared, as he extended to Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer."

"I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."

"In Joe Biden, we'll have a leader who prioritizes common ground and civility over alienation, bullying, and scorched-earth tactics."

"On Monday, President Biden expressed his support for a ceasefire in Gaza during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu. But Biden stopped short of directly demanding Israel halt its assault, despite growing pressure from Congress, where over two dozen Democratic senators have backed an immediate ceasefire. After Biden’s call, Israel continued its attack on Gaza, which has now entered its ninth day. At the United Nations, the United States once again blocked the U.N. Security Council from backing a ceasefire. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid, receiving some $3.8 billion a year. In recent weeks, the Biden administration approved the sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel"

"Biden was appropriately little more than a footnote in my chapter on the 1988 campaign. His 2008 campaign didn't end in disgrace, but merely faded into obscurity; his career was revived by Obama. Biden's contribution to the party debate has been to put himself on the wrong side of the issues with a startling consistency. One would think that just by chance, given a career that spans a half-century, he'd manage to get a few things right by accident. Even his most uncontroversial accomplishment, the Violence Against Women Act, was tucked into the Biden Crime Bill, which played a major role in juicing mass incarceration."

"This is a genuine crisis for America because if President Biden is frustrated in his attempt to pass his Build Back Better legislation (that is overwhelmingly supported by Americans across the political spectrum) — all because business groups, giant corporations and rightwing billionaires are asserting ownership over their two “made” senators — there’s a very good chance that today’s cynicism and political violence is just a preview of the rest of the decade."

"Responding to over a decade of grassroots advocacy, upon entering office President Biden pledged to power the nation with 100 percent clean energy by 2035 (and 80 percent by 2030)."

"As President Biden explained, the current U.S.-orchestrated military escalation (“Prodding the Bear”) is not really about Ukraine. Biden promised at the outset that no U.S. troops would be involved. But he has been demanding for over a year that Germany prevent the pipeline from supplying its industry and housing with low-priced gas and turn to the much higher-priced U.S. suppliers."

"President Biden has indeed got a regime change, but the regime change is in the United States itself. When Biden said last week, well, we’ve got to make America make a lot of great sacrifices to support the Nazis in Ukraine... Biden really may succeed in rolling back the economy to the mid-19th century. And that basically is not just Biden, of course, it’s the people around him. And ultimately it’s the deep state. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, their policy is identical..."

"As president, I will not accept the argument that says our problem is too many Americans are finding good jobs"

"For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me. I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can't do - when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America."

"I've asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort, because nobody messes with Joe. Am I right? They don't mess with him."

"Biden saying offhandedly that “the pandemic is over” even as thousands of people die every week and groups like Long COVID Justice and #MEAction organize — from bed and in die ins in front of the White House — demanding that the U.S. declare long COVID a public health emergency."

"We have never had a president with a longer paper trail than Joe Biden. He’s taken so many different positions on the same issues so many times throughout his career that I sometimes wonder if Biden even knows anymore what he actually thinks about a particular issue. Joe Biden might tell you one thing one day and really believe it, and then the next day he’s doing the exact opposite because he’s cut some side deal that maybe we’ll hear about in some years. Above all, Biden is an empire politician. He is someone who believes that questions of war don’t really matter on a moral level, but how does it impact America’s credibility, security and prestige"

"The Intercept conducted an exhaustive analysis of Biden’s political career with a focus on his positions on dozens of U.S. wars and military campaigns, CIA covert actions, and abuses of power; his views on whistleblowers and leakers; and his shifting stance on the often contentious relationship between the executive and legislative branches over war powers. The picture that emerges is of a man who is dedicated to the U.S. as an empire, who believes that preserving U.S. national interests and “prestige” on the global stage outweigh considerations of morality or even at times the deaths of innocent people. It also reveals a politician who consistently claims to hold bedrock principles but who often strays from those positions in support of a partisan agenda or because he wants a policy adopted regardless of the hypocrisy or contradictions. Nowhere is this dynamic more pronounced than on U.S. wars."

"I think you could say it’s a good thing that Joe Biden did this, and that is the withdrawal from Afghanistan... There was an enormous amount of pressure on Joe Biden to keep the war in Afghanistan going from within his own party, certainly from the military brass. I think Biden deserves credit for standing up to them. I am not sure that if Barack Obama had been the commander-in-chief during this period he actually would have followed through as Biden did on a total withdrawal of conventional American forces. I do think someone who is this career politician specializing in foreign policy, I think Joe Biden knew the history well enough to know that he would have been taking a catastrophic gamble by keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan. I think outside of Bernie Sanders, I think there were almost no Democratic candidates that would have had the spine to follow through on Trump’s withdrawal plan. Regarding China, I think it is a bit of a wash because you have both the Democrats and Republicans taking an increasingly hostile posture."

"This guy can change the face of what we're dealing with, with regard to guns, assault weapons, with regard to dealing with climate change. And I'm just warning Amy: If I win, I'm coming for him."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing."

"I mark the last days of Hubert Humphrey as the high point of bipartisan decency in my career. Hubert Humphrey died a senator, and in his last months in the Capitol, cancer was wasting him. We all watched it happen. His hair was gone; he was emaciated. He was too diminished to take part in real debate, but he’d show up to vote. He loved the Senate. "The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions," Humphrey once said, "and if the road to hell is paved with them, then it’s a pretty good detour." In his last days it was like he didn’t want to leave the chamber. He’d stay on the floor late into the night, and he and his friend Senator Barry Goldwater would talk about things they’d accomplished together and separately in the Senate. Politically, the two men could not have been further apart. Humphrey had been the vice presidential candidate in 1964 when Goldwater ran as the Republican presidential nominee. And the Boss’s convention speech that year was a shot across the bow of Gold-waterism. He’d listed the many programs that moderate Republicans in the Senate had voted for, following each with "but not Senator Barry Goldwater." They’d unexpectedly run into each other in an airport on the campaign trail a few weeks later and stopped for a friendly greeting. As they parted, somebody overheard Goldwater say, "Well, keep punching, Hubert." By the end of 1977, it became increasingly clear that the Boss would not be around much longer. And on the Senate floor one day, Barry Goldwater walked across the aisle and enveloped Hubert Humphrey. Goldwater was so big and Humphrey so frail that Humphrey almost disappeared. The two men stood for a long moment, locked in a hug, and I could see that both men were crying. They made no effort to hide it."

"I had the great honor of meeting him. I had the great honor of being arrested with our UN Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robbens Island."

"You ever been to a caucus? [audience member nods] No you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier."

"They didn’t take on the welfare programs directly; they didn’t talk about eliminating welfare. They just kept up a steady drumbeat about welfare cheats and how the federal government was wasting the money taken from hardworking taxpayers. I’ll give the Republicans this much: It was a mercenary message, but it resonated. And they had taken the easy way out. It required a lot less energy, intelligence, and competence to run against government than to try to make government work. But there was also a blowback effect in Congress: Respect for the institution and civility among its members began to ebb."

"People ask if I can compete with the money of Hillary and Barack. I hope at the end of the day, they can compete with my ideas and my experience."

"This is a guy (Chinese leader Xi Jinping) who doesn’t have a democratic — with a small d — bone is his body. This is a guy who is a thug."

"Climate change is already . . . costing our nations trillions of dollars [and] we know that none of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we fail to seize this moment."

"150 million people have been killed [by guns] since 2007 when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability. More than all the wars including Vietnam from that point on."

"As I pushed through to the podium, I could hear people murmuring under their breath: "There he is... Goddam Biden.... Kill the sonofabitch." And these were my voters- working-class Democrats."

"He will vote for this for this if we have in this proposal what he anticipated looking at the fine print .... I believe that Joe will be there"

"I believe the American people — the vast majority — are with us. I think they see much more clearly what you’ve all been fighting for your whole lives now. It’s in stark relief. The bad news: We had a President who appealed to the prejudice. The good news is that he took the — he ripped the Band-Aid off, made it absolutely clear what’s at stake. And I think the American people will follow us. But guess what? Whether they will or not, we have no choice. We have to continue to fight. God bless you all. May God protect our troops."

"You always love your dad. You don’t always like your dad sometimes. But granddaughters not only love THEIR dads — their grandpops — they ALWAYS like them, and that’s the GREAT thing. I want you to meet Finnegan."

"But . . . within the growing catastrophe, I believe there’s an incredible opportunity . . . . We have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable clean-energy future and in the process create millions of good-paying jobs [while we] create an environment that raises the standard of living around the world."

"When I talk to the American people about climate change, I tell them it’s about jobs. It’s about workers [and the] communities that will revitalize themselves around new industries and opportunities."

"So, let’s get to work."

"We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death [for the unvaccinated]"

"Look, there is no federal solution. This gets solved at a state level."

"To state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked — simply attacked. The will of the people was under assault. The Constitution — our Constitution — faced the gravest of threats. Outnumbered and in the face of a brutal attack, the Capitol Police, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the National Guard, and other brave law enforcement officials saved the rule of law. Our democracy held. We the people endured. And we the people prevailed. For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol. But they failed. They failed. And on this day of remembrance, we must make sure that such an attack never, never happens again."

"I know the moment we’re in; you know the moment we are in. I know the stakes; you know the stakes. This is far from over. And finally, we’re confronting the stains of what remains — the deep stain on the soul of the nation: hate and white supremacy [...] that hate never goes away. It never – I thought — in all of the years I’ve been involved, I thought once we got through it, it would go away. But it doesn’t; it only hides. It only hides until some seeming-legitimate person breathes some oxygen under the rocks where they’re hiding and gives it some breath."