WASHINGTON (AP) – Transcript of an interview with the Oval Office on Thursday with President Joe Biden from White House AP reporter Josh Boke. When the audio recording of the interview is unclear, dots or notes that the recording is incomprehensible are used.
AP: I wanted to thank you for taking the time to do that.
BIDEN: Of course, with pleasure.
AP: And I’m really interested in how you think and how you make choices in what seems like a truly unique time in American history.
BIDEN: Well, I make a choice. This is an interesting question. I make a choice, as I have always done, in the sense that circumstances change, but my goal does not change. Does it make sense to you? For example, uh, from the time I entered public life, it’s about how to give ordinary working-class and middle-class people a chance (incomprehensible) .. instead of looking at everything from top to bottom. I’m not big, does it work (link to the cassette player).
AP: Yes, we are fine.
BIDEN: I don’t believe much in the economy of the emerging economy and, um, so everything I’ve been looking at since I took office, but even before that, when I was a senator all these years, it’s best Shooting to develop the economy from the bottom up and from the middle out, because when that happens, everyone does well. The rich are doing very, very well. And the biggest thing I think when I got into this job, I have the biggest disappointment of the last four years, is that, um, uh, everything was built, built and arranged so that for the first 1 to 3% from the population to do very well. The rest was kind of, I mean, literally, everything else seemed late.
AP: Let me ask about this, right, because you saw the polls. There are many voters who are very pessimistic. When I look at the consumer sentiment survey published by the University of Michigan, even Democrats started to really worry about the economy a year ago, and we had people who were basically going through a pandemic, a shortage of basic commodities, inflation, some of the political divisions that you see at the moment on the hill with the hearings on January 6, as well as the war in Europe. And how do you, as president, provide a sense of stability and strength … (crosstalk)
BIDEN: Well, if you notice until gas prices started to go up, which was about the same time, according to a study by the University of Michigan, they had very different views. Things were much more, they were much more optimistic. We came in and started to develop the economy in significant ways. We managed, ah, you know, to go from 2 million gunshots to 225 million. People had access to tackle the pandemic. We started opening businesses and opening access to get back to work, and so on. But then, in my experience, the way I was raised, if you want a direct barometer of what people are going to talk about at the kitchen table and dining table and if things are going well, that’s the price of food and what’s the price of, of gasoline at the pump. I mean literally the pump.
And if you notice, you know, uh, gasoline went up by, you know, $ 1.25 right away, almost when Putin’s war started. Um, and as I said then, by the way, I made it clear with the help of Ukraine and the organization of NATO to help Ukraine that it will cost. There would be a price for that. Yes, it will not be free, but we had, the option of doing nothing was worse. If he actually moved to Ukraine, took over Ukraine and Belarus, where he is, and was a threat to NATO, all these things would be even worse.
AP: Why is that? Because it seems that you knew the risks for Ukraine in terms of higher gasoline prices …
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: … this posed political risks for you at home …
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: … so when, when your assistants said, “Look at the situation,” how did you make that choice? What would you say to someone in Latrobe, Pennsylvania?
BIDEN: I’m the President of the United States. It is not about my political survival. It is about the best for the country. No kidding. No kidding. So what’s going on? What will happen if the strongest force, NATO, the organizational structure we have assembled, moves away from the Russian aggression of more than 100,000 soldiers marching across the border to try to occupy and destroy the culture of an entire nation. Then what happens? What happens next? What to do next?
AP: What were you afraid would happen next if you didn’t?
BIDEN: Oh, I’m afraid you’ll see chaos in Europe after that. You will see the opportunity for them to keep moving. You have already seen what they are doing in Belarus. What will happen in the surrounding countries. Watch what happens in Poland, and the Czech Republic and all NATO members. For example, you know, the reason Putin said he would join is because he doesn’t want them to join NATO. And, uh, he, he, he, he wanted something like the Finnish identification of NATO. Instead, he received the NATOization of Finland. (Laughter) No, I’m serious.
AP: Yes.
BIDEN: So the idea that if the United States stands aside, then what does China think of Taiwan? So what does North Korea think about nuclear weapons other than tests and pressure?
AP: Do you think Americans have this feeling of betting every day?
BIDEN: No, I don’t. But I don’t think, look, every day most households are just trying to figure out how to put it, before, even when things went well, they just figured out how to put food on the table, take care of the kids, pay for their education, just the basics. You know, look, um, one of, I’ve always suggested to younger people who want to get into public life, I ask them two things: did you realize what it’s worth to lose? Do you understand what it is worth to lose? If you do not understand this, do not enter politics. Go to a more profitable organization, enterprise. Get in the business, get in the trade, don’t do it, get involved. But unless you know what it’s worth to lose, don’t get engaged. Number one. Number two. The purpose of public service is to promote the views that you believe are best for the American people.
I made a commitment and I think I can say that I have never broken if I make a commitment. This time I would not run again. I mean really. I would not run. I just lost my son, I taught at Penn, I liked it, while all these boys came, came out of the woods …
AP: Charlottesville.
BIDEN: … the people of Charlottesville and this other man said “good people on both sides” when an innocent woman was killed, and so on. And I made a decision. I’ve been doing this for too long to do anything other than try to do what is right. I mean, I’m not, there’s nothing noble about it. But it’s not worth it. So you asked me what I would say to the American people. I would tell the American people that I have pursued foreign policy throughout my career. I am convinced that if we let Russia and Putin spin, he will not stop.
AP: Let me ask about another difficult choice you made. When you walk into the office, you seem to have made the choice to prioritize job growth. Republicans are currently telling voters that inflation started with your COVID relief package.
BIDEN: There’s no evidence of that. There is no evidence of this, number one. Second, we reduced the deficit by $ 350 billion last year. This year we have reduced the deficit by a trillion, 700 billion. We are developing the economy. Today, we have more people employed today than we did for a long, long time, and we have found another 8.6 million jobs. And guess what? We still have hundreds of thousands of vacancies.
AP: So, do you think that when the Minister of Finance Yellen said that this may have contributed insignificantly to inflation, it is out of the question? Has anyone informed you (interrupted)
BIDEN: Yes, I was informed.
AP: of possible compromises?
BIDEN: You just said two different things. You said Republicans said I caused inflation. She said it could have little effect on him. Two different things. You can argue that this has had a negligible, insignificant impact on inflation. I don’t think it happened. And most economists don’t think so. But the idea that it caused inflation is strange.
AP: Let me ask, stepping back, after yesterday’s Fed meeting. I know you said, ‘Look, our economy is strong. We have these jobs. It’s the best look we’ve had in decades. ” But then you have serious economists warning of a recession next year.
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: What should Americans believe?
BIDEN: They don’t have to believe the warning. They just have to say, “Let’s see. Let’s see what is right. “And from my point of view, you talked about a recession. First of all, it is not inevitable. Second, we are in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation. That’s bad. Isn’t it interesting? If it’s my fault, why is inflation higher in every other major industrialized country in the world? Wondering that? I’m not a wise man. Someone has to ask this question. Why “Why is that? If it’s a consequence of our spending, we’ve reduced the deficit. We’ve increased employment, we’ve increased wages. debt (incomprehensible) credit cards, more savings in your savings account, higher pay for the work they had, more satisfaction with the work they had and were in good financial shape.
AP: I believe this was a study by the Fed. However, you see this interesting change in impulse census surveys, which show that people are obviously hired the way they were not. They are less dependent on unemployment benefits and the government for help, and yet more of them say they have problems with their weekly …
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