Transcript - Interview: Brian Tyler Cohen Interviews Joe Biden on the No Lie Podcast - February 25, 2022 | Factba.se

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:00:00 - 00:00:04 ()

We're here today in the White House. Thank you, President Biden, for taking the time to speak with me.

Joe Biden

00:00:04 - 00:00:06 ()

Thank you for wanting to speak to me.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:00:06 - 00:00:13 ()

Of course. Of course. So, this is the first interview you've done since your big announcement that you've nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Joe Biden

00:00:13 - 00:00:14 ()

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:00:14 - 00:00:18 ()

You've had a number of qualified candidates to choose from. Why did you ultimately go with her?

Joe Biden

00:00:18 - 00:00:43 ()

Well, several reasons. Number one, I committed two years ago that if I got elected president, I would name -- if I had an opportunity, I'd name the first African American woman to the Supreme Court because I think the court should look like the country. And I think it should reflect the country. And so -- and, by the way, our administration is the most diverse administration in American history.

Joe Biden

00:00:43 - 00:01:05 ()

We, actually -- as was pointed out to me, if you look around, you can see, but there's more women in my administration than are men. The point is that I want to bring the country together. And -- number one. Number two, she's brilliant. She is absolutely brilliant. She -- she graduated magna cum laude from undergraduate school.

Joe Biden

00:01:05 - 00:01:32 ()

She was -- at her law review in law school, she clerked for the Supreme Court. She's been -- she's been confirmed by the United States Senate for three different positions. And she has real character. I think character matters. I think it's -- and I think background and being able to understand perspectives from other -- about other people in the country matters as well.

Joe Biden

00:01:32 - 00:01:59 ()

They tell me -- I don't know for a fact, they tell me I presided over more Supreme Court justices than anybody living because I used to be chairman of the formerly -- of the -- that too -- but chairman of the Judiciary Committee. And I voted on an awful lot of judges. But she's incredibly qualified, and she has a disposition that is one that is -- can put litigants at ease.

Joe Biden

00:01:59 - 00:02:22 ()

And she -- for example, this is a woman who was a federal public defender on the Sentencing Commission. She was a judge. But she also has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police. So, I think she has real balance, real character, and I think she'll add a dimension to the court that is going to make it even better.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:02:22 - 00:02:43 ()

Well, now, despite these qualifications, we've seen the usual opposition from Republicans. Lindsey Graham came out recently and said that this is a win for the radical Left, which is ironic considering he himself voted to confirm her just eight months ago to the Appeals Court. Now what's your message to these Republicans who seem to be settled in their opposition before even speaking with her?

Joe Biden

00:02:43 - 00:03:03 ()

I've been around a long time. Unfortunately, we become so politicized in this country that I wish it would be different. Lindsey used to be a close friend. I just wish they'd give a chance. There's no basis for that assertion. But it's what it is.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:03:03 - 00:03:24 ()

Yeah. Looking overseas, obviously, we're seeing now that Russia has invaded Ukraine in defiance of not only Ukraine sovereignty, but also warnings from the international community, and yet, at the same time, we have someone like Donald Trump who's come out and praised Putin's savvy and genius just in advance of him attacking Ukraine.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:03:24 - 00:03:32 ()

And other Republicans have rallied to Putin's side as well. What's your message to Trump and others in light of Putin's attacks?

Joe Biden

00:03:32 - 00:03:40 ()

Well, I think I put as much stock in Trump saying that Putin's a genius as I do when he called himself a stable genius.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:03:40 - 00:03:54 ()

There you go. Well, now, in terms of these sanctions, you know, we've seen sanctions get imposed on Putin after Georgia in 2008, after Crimea in 2014, election hacking in 2016.

Joe Biden

00:03:54 - 00:04:30 ()

Nothing like this though. Look, you have two options: start a third World War, go to war with Russia physically; or two, make sure that a country that acts so contrary to international law ends up paying a price for having done it. And it's -- this is -- there's no sanction that is immediate. It's not like you can sanction someone and say, "You're no longer are going to be able to be the president of -- of -- of Russia."

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:04:30 - 00:04:31 ()

Joe Biden

00:04:31 - 00:05:04 ()

But I think these sanctions -- I know -- I know these sanctions are the broadest sanctions in history, and economic sanctions, and political sanctions. And my goal from the very beginning was to make sure that I kept all of NATO and the Europeans on the same page because the one thing I think that Putin thought he could do was split NATO, creating a great aperture for him to be able to walk through.

Joe Biden

00:05:04 - 00:05:45 ()

And that hasn't happened if you notice. It's been complete unanimity. And -- and Russia will pay a -- a serious price for this short term and long term, particularly long term. And I -- I think it's -- it's not only in Europe, but -- and -- and on the -- in the Pacific, Japan and South Korea and Australia and -- I mean, so it's -- I think if the democracies of the world hold together, I think it -- it increases the prospect that we're going to have less chaos rather than more.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:05:45 - 00:05:53 ()

I think that's the ultimate irony here is that if Putin's goal ultimately was to -- to undermine NATO, and look at what's happening now, NATO was more unified than ever.

Joe Biden

00:05:53 - 00:06:18 ()

Well, beyond that. Not only NATO is more unified. Look at what's going on in terms of Finland. Look at what's going on in terms of Sweden. Look at what's going on in terms of other countries. I mean, he's producing the exact opposite effect that he intended. And -- but -- but all I know is that we have to stay the course with the rest of our allies.

Joe Biden

00:06:18 - 00:06:28 ()

And in the meantime, we're supplying defensive weaponry and economic assistance to Ukraine. And I think it's important that we stay the course.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:06:28 - 00:06:38 ()

Yeah. And I think -- so it was important, too, that finally, we have leadership here that showing that it's important to focus on protecting democracy as opposed to autocracy.

Joe Biden

00:06:38 - 00:07:08 ()

Well, you know -- you know, obviously, you've heard things I've said before because I -- I've said at the outset of my presidency that there is a genuine -- we're at an inflection point in world history. It occurs every three or four or five generations, fundamental change taking place in the world, and the combination of the fundamental change is taking place.

Joe Biden

00:07:08 - 00:07:32 ()

For example, you're going to see more change in the next 10 years than we saw in the last 50 years. And it's because of the nature of science and technology and movement, and a lot of the autocrats. And President Xi -- I have spent a lot of time with President Xi of China. He's one who believes that things are changing so rapidly.

Joe Biden

00:07:32 - 00:07:37 ()

Democracies don't have time to reach consensus, so autocracies are going to be -- are going to rule.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:07:37 - 00:07:55 ()

All this is a good lesson in -- in disproving that theory. And -- and speaking of that, moving -- looking back inward at home, you know, we're in this rare sliver of time where Democrats have unified control of government in the House, the Senate, and the White House. And yet our agenda has been moving slower than we would have liked.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:07:55 - 00:08:02 ()

What's your message to Democrats who say that -- that our elected officials can't deliver? And so, what's the point of showing up to vote?

Joe Biden

00:08:02 - 00:08:30 ()

Well, two things. One, I think the biggest impact on the psychology the country has been COVID. Almost a million Americans have died of COVID. And -- and so I think it's hard for people to get their arms around the fact that we have the fastest growing economy in 40 years. Wages are actually up, not down.

Joe Biden

00:08:30 - 00:08:52 ()

Unemployment is the lowest it's been, it's under -- under, you know, it's just incredibly low and it's around in the three-point range. We find ourselves in a position where it's hard to fully appreciate that when you wake up in the morning and wonder or not, whether or not your uncle, and mother, father, son, daughter who has COVID are going to be OK.

Joe Biden

00:08:52 - 00:09:23 ()

And as Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, points out, I think one of the significant things we're going to find 10 years from now is a phenomenal negative psychological impact that COVID has had on the public psyche. And so, you have an awful lot of people who are notwithstanding the fact that -- that things have gotten so much better for them economically, that they are thinking, but how do you get up in the morning and feel happy?

Joe Biden

00:09:23 - 00:09:49 ()

Happy that everything's all right, even though your job is better, even though you have more income, even though -- and then on top of that, because of COVID supply chains have been so interrupted that now you have inflation. And inflation is a -- for example, one third of all inflation a month ago was the price of automobiles, but why they get so high?

Joe Biden

00:09:49 - 00:10:09 ()

They don't have those little computer chips, so, they don't -- you know, we invented them here in the United States, and we went to the Moon. We don't make them much anymore. We're starting to now. But what happens is when we're they're made in -- in parts of Southeast Asia and Taiwan and other places, and we don't get them to us quick enough and can't get there, everything slows up.

Joe Biden

00:10:09 - 00:10:34 ()

The same way with, you know, you have from Ukraine to -- to Russia, you know, wheat and all those things, those products. The generic point is that I think that it's -- we're gaining control of that. We're going to get there, but it's really disquieting for people. But I can tell them that hope is on the way.

Joe Biden

00:10:34 - 00:10:54 ()

We have more tools now to deal with COVID than we've ever, ever had. We have -- I've ordered millions of pills, over 20 million pills, that Pfizer come up with, even you haven't had a vaccination and you get COVID, you take the pill, you're not going to go to the hospital; and shots in arms; and the ability to have boosters.

Joe Biden

00:10:54 - 00:11:04 ()

And so, I think we're going to see things changing. But it's difficult, especially for people who have to get up in the morning, sit down to breakfast, and sit across from an empty chair.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:11:04 - 00:11:20 ()

In a broader scheme of things, what do you hope that your legacy is going to be when your grandkids are reading the history books and they read about you? You know, we look and see that Lincoln freed the slaves, FDR's New Deal, Obama had the ACA, Trump had his own legacy, but we'll keep it -- keep it upbeat here.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:11:20 - 00:11:22 ()

What -- what do you hope that your legacy will be?

Joe Biden

00:11:22 - 00:11:48 ()

Well, first of all, I -- I don't think in terms of legacy, I think in terms of the needs immediately. I ran for -- I ran for president, really and truly. And even my supporters were not critical but thought the reasons I -- I -- I laid out why I was running, maybe they weren't such a good idea. I said I was running for three reasons, from the very beginning: One, to restore the soul of America.

Joe Biden

00:11:48 - 00:12:10 ()

This idea of decency, honor, treating people with respect. Literally. Literally treating people with respect. And second reason, rebuild the backbone of the country, which is the middle-class, working-class folks. This trickle-down theory of economic growth, excuse me, has left the -- left an awful lot of Americans out.

Joe Biden

00:12:10 - 00:12:30 ()

And I've never seen a time when the middle class is doing well that the wealthy don't do very well and the poor have a way up. And so, that's why I focused on how to change the circumstances and opportunities for working-class and middle-class people. And the third reason was, which I got a lot of criticism for, is saying I had to unite the country.

Joe Biden

00:12:30 - 00:12:57 ()

We can't be a divided country. We can't be sustained and do the things that have to be done if we remain divided based on ethnicity, based on politics, it can't work. And so, they're the three things -- I hope my legacy is that I was able to restore some decency and honor to the office. I was able to bring the middle class back to a place where they had real opportunity, given an even chance to succeed.

Joe Biden

00:12:57 - 00:13:30 ()

And I was able to reconstruct our alliances, which had been frayed so badly internationally. And that I was able to bring people together, bring the politics of America together. And I think we're making slow progress on some of these things, but I think that we're moving. I hope my legacy is that I restored the soul of this country, I was able to give the middle class, and we were able to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down.

Joe Biden

00:13:30 - 00:13:35 ()

And that we're able to unify the country again.

Brian Tyler Cohen

00:13:35 - 00:13:40 ()

We'll leave it there, Mr. President. Thank you so much for taking the time. It's been an honor to speak with you today.

Joe Biden

00:13:40 - 00:13:41 ()

Thank you. You're good.