Transcript - Press Gaggle: Joe Biden Speaks to the Press Before Air Force One Departure - June 16, 2021 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:09 ()

I owe my last question an apology. I shouldn't have -- I shouldn't have been such a wise guy with the last answer I gave. [Break in Video] Anyway, thanks for being here. And most of you have been here the whole route.

Joe Biden

00:00:09 - 00:00:18 ()

I really do think -- [End Break in Video] not me, but I think we, the country, has put a different face on where we've been and where we're going. And I feel good about it. I feel --

Joe Biden

00:00:18 - 00:00:38 ()

You know, one of things that I think, understandably, there was a good deal of skepticism about: would the G7 sign on and give America back it's, sort of, leadership role. I think it did. It wasn't me, but it meant they're glad America is back. They're glad America is back, and they acted that way.

Joe Biden

00:00:38 - 00:01:13 ()

And then, when we went to NATO, I think it was the same thing. We had really good meetings there and real response, as well as the EU. I didn't get one single person -- not one of the world leaders said to us anything other than thanking me for arranging a meeting with Putin. And I thought, quite frankly, I was in a much better position to represent the West, after the previous three meetings with Putin, that -- knowing that the rest of the West was behind us. And so, I think -- so I owe them all a debt of gratitude.

Question

00:01:13 - 00:01:18 ()

Mr. President, since you're now heading home, can I just ask you briefly about two domestic issues?

Joe Biden

00:01:18 - 00:01:21 ()

I'm not sure I can answer them, but --

Question

00:01:21 - 00:01:27 ()

If you could. First would be this fate of the infrastructure bill. There's now a bipartisan group that has a new offer. Have you had time to review it?

Joe Biden

00:01:27 - 00:01:54 ()

I haven't seen it. No, I -- I'm not being -- I honestly haven't seen it. I don't know what the details are. I know that my Chief of Staffs thinks there's some room that there may be a means by which to get this done. And I know that Schumer and Nancy have moved forward on a reconciliation provision as well. So I'm still hoping we could put together the two bookends here.

Question

00:01:54 - 00:02:06 ()

And the second issue is: Yesterday -- or earlier this week, Mitch McConnell said that if Republicans were to take back the Senate in 2022, he did not see a way that you could get a Supreme Court justice confirmed. Do you have a response to that?

Joe Biden

00:02:06 - 00:02:07 ()

Question

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

This would be next year.

Joe Biden

00:02:08 - 00:02:25 ()

No, I know. I know. The answer is: Mitch is -- Mitch has been nothing but "no" for a long time. And I'm sure he means exactly what he says, but we'll see.

Question

00:02:25 - 00:02:30 ()

Mr. President, did you talk with President Putin about the Iran nuclear deal?

Joe Biden

00:02:30 - 00:02:31 ()

Question

00:02:31 - 00:02:35 ()

Did you make -- find a way? What did you discuss, and did you find a way to make some progress?

Joe Biden

00:02:35 - 00:02:39 ()

It was about how we would jointly work, and I'm not going to discuss what we discussed.

Question

00:02:39 - 00:03:04 ()

Mr. President, Kaitlan's question that you answered at the very end there, that you came over to talk about, I think at the heart of it was this question of whether or not you seem overly optimistic, given that -- what we all listened to President Putin essentially say the same, old things that he's said forever. He -- you know, rejecting all responsibility for all that stuff.

Question

00:03:04 - 00:03:16 ()

And I guess the question that she was trying to get, and maybe you could take another stab at it, is: What concrete evidence do you have from these three -- three plus hours that suggest that any movement has been made?

Question

00:03:16 - 00:03:20 ()

And I don't -- I don't mean that to be -- I'm not -- it's not meant to be a -- [inaudible] --

Joe Biden

00:03:20 - 00:03:23 ()

No, no, no. No. I know, but you're all --

Question

00:03:23 - 00:03:23 ()

-- [inaudible] question.

Joe Biden

00:03:23 - 00:03:31 ()

Look, to be a good reporter, you got to be negative. You got to have a negative view of life -- okay? -- it seems to me, the way you all -- you never ask a positive question.

Joe Biden

00:03:31 - 00:03:38 ()

Why, in fact, having agreement -- we'll find out. We have an agreement to work on a major arms control agreement.

Joe Biden

00:03:38 - 00:03:50 ()

I started on working on arms control agreements back all the way during the Cold War. If we could do one when the Cold War, why couldn't we do one now? We'll see. We will see whether or not it happens.

Joe Biden

00:03:50 - 00:03:56 ()

But what do you -- I mean, the thing that always amazes me about the questions -- and I apologize for having been short on this before.

Joe Biden

00:03:56 - 00:04:09 ()

If you were in my position, would you say, "Well, I don't think, man, anything is going to happen. This is going to be really rough. I think it's going to really be bad"? You'd guarantee nothing happens. You'd guarantee nothing happens.

Joe Biden

00:04:09 - 00:04:11 ()

And so, so far --

Question

00:04:11 - 00:04:14 ()

So, there's a value to --

Joe Biden

00:04:14 - 00:04:20 ()

There's a value to being realistic and put on an optimistic front, an optimistic face.

Joe Biden

00:04:20 - 00:04:35 ()

Look, you all said the same thing about the, you know, what was going to happen when we had the first meeting of the -- of -- of the seven. "Oh, Biden -- they're not going to -- they're not going to buy Biden's stuff. They're really not really... "

Joe Biden

00:04:35 - 00:04:41 ()

Any of you find that? Did that happen? Any of it? A little bit? Just a little sliver of it?

Joe Biden

00:04:41 - 00:04:50 ()

When I went to meet with NATO -- "Oh boy, they're not going to be happy. They're all going to be against Biden meeting with Putin. They're not going to want that." Did you hear a single, solitary syllable?

Joe Biden

00:04:50 - 00:05:01 ()

Now, what would have happen if I had said, before I went into those negotiations, "You know, I think it's going to be really hard. I think it's going to be really difficult. I'm not so optimistic about -- I don't see anybody really changing"?

Joe Biden

00:05:01 - 00:05:07 ()

And the same way when I met with the EU. "The EU is not going to like the way Biden is operating."

Question

00:05:07 - 00:05:10 ()

But this is Vladimir Putin. I mean, can you be optimistic about his change?

Joe Biden

00:05:10 - 00:05:23 ()

Sure, it's Vladimir Putin. But, look, it was also -- I don't want to compare him to Putin, but it was -- the French President said he will never go for more money for NATO. Guess what? He's agreed.

Joe Biden

00:05:23 - 00:05:39 ()

Every -- I mean, look, guys, I'm going to drive you all crazy because I know you want me to always put a negative thrust on things, particularly in public, and negotiate in public.

Joe Biden

00:05:39 - 00:06:03 ()

I don't have to trust somebody -- we didn't have to trust somebody to get START II. It wasn't a about our trust -- "Well, I trust the Russians. I can tell, man, they're really -- they're -- I can look in his eye, and they're really very, very truthful." It's not that at all.

Joe Biden

00:06:03 - 00:06:12 ()

You have to figure out what the other guy's self-interest is. Their self-interest. I don't trust anybod- -- look, I've got to get in the plane, but I'll say it -- you'll hear me say this more than once.

Question

00:06:12 - 00:06:18 ()

It's your plane. You can go when you want. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:06:18 - 00:06:46 ()

Yeah, no, but -- no, but here's the thing: Folks, I -- I don't see any benefit ever to begin a negotiation as -- and, I mean, you're the brightest people in the country. You're the most informed people on detail. I'm not being solicitous; you are. But it makes no sense for me to negotiate with you. It makes no sense for me to tell you what I'm about to do. It makes -- not because I want to hide anything from you. Why would I telegraph that?

Question

00:06:46 - 00:06:47 ()

Did he do anything that surprised you, sir?

Unidentified

00:06:47 - 00:06:51 ()

Sir, we need to go. Sir, we really have to go.

Question

00:06:51 - 00:06:53 ()

Was there any moment that you were really surprised by?

Unidentified

00:06:53 - 00:06:57 ()

Sir -- thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

Joe Biden

00:06:57 - 00:07:29 ()

No, I wasn't surprised because I was convinced that -- let me choose my words. Russia is in a very, very difficult spot right now. They are being squeezed by China. They want desperately to remain a major power. You all are writing about, not illegitimately, "Biden already gave Putin what he wants: legitimacy, standing in the world stage with the President of the United States." They desperately want to have -- be relevant.

Joe Biden

00:07:29 - 00:07:54 ()

They have -- and they don't want to be known as, as some critics have pointed and said, you know, the "Upper Volta with nuclear weapons." It matters. And I found it matters to almost every world leader -- no matter where they're from -- how they're perceived, their standing in the world. It matters to them. It matters to them in terms of their support at home as well.

Joe Biden

00:07:54 - 00:08:04 ()

And so I think that there is -- I'm trying to think how to shorten this so I can get in the plane.

Joe Biden

00:08:04 - 00:08:32 ()

I'm of the view that, in the last three to five years, the world has reached a fundamental inflection point about what it's going to look like 10 years from now. I mean it literally. It's not hyperbole. It's not like I'm trying to pump it up. I think it's a genuine reality.

Joe Biden

00:08:32 - 00:08:58 ()

And so each of the countries in -- around the world, particularly those who had real power at one time or still do, are wondering: What -- how do I maintain and sustain our leadership in the world? That's what the United States is going through right now. How do we sustain us being the leading, the most powerful, and most democratic country in the world? A lot is going on.

Joe Biden

00:08:58 - 00:09:37 ()

I don't know about you, I never anticipated, notwithstanding no matter how persuasive President Trump was, that we'd have people attacking and breaking down the doors of the United States Capitol. I didn't think that would happen. I didn't think we'd -- I'd see that in my lifetime. But it's reinforced what I've always known and what I got taught by my political science professors and by the senior members of the Senate that I admired when I got there: that every generation has to re-establish the basis of its fight for democracy. I mean, for real, literally have to do it.

Joe Biden

00:09:37 - 00:09:53 ()

And I've never seen, including during -- since the Civil War, such an outward assault on voting rights. I mean, just a flat assault. I didn't anticipate that happening four years ago, but it's happening now.

Joe Biden

00:09:53 - 00:10:09 ()

So, there's a lot at stake. Each of the countries, we have our own concerns and problems, but we still -- as long as I'm President, we are going to stick to the notion that we're open, accountable, and transparent. And I think that's an important message to send the world.

Joe Biden

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

Thank you all so much.

Unidentified

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

Thank you guys. Thank you.

Question

00:10:12 - 00:10:17 ()

Mr. President, come back and see us on the plane.