WASHINGTON (AP) – Transcript of an Oval Office interview Thursday with President Joe Biden of AP White House journalist Josh Boak. When the audio recording of the interview is unclear, ellipses or a notation that the recording was unintelligible are used.
AP: I wanted to thank you for taking the time to do so.
BIDEN: Sure, delighted.
AP: And I’m very interested in how you’re thinking and how you’re making decisions during what seems like a truly unique moment in U.S. history.
BIDEN: Well, I’m making choices. That’s an interesting question. I am making decisions as always, in the sense that circumstances change but my goal does not change. Does it make sense to you? For example, I have, eh, from the moment I entered public life, it’s been about how to hit (inaudible) normal working class and middle class people … instead of seeing- everything from top to bottom. . I’m not big, it works (a reference to the recorder).
AP: Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either.
BIDEN: I’m not a big believer in the drip economy, and everything I look at from the moment I took office, but even before, when I was a senator all these years, is the best. The goal is to grow the economy from the bottom up and from the middle out because when it happens to everyone it does well. The rich do it very, very well. And the most important thing I think, when I got into this job, which I have the biggest frustration with for the last four years, is that everything was built, built and organized so that 1 to 3% higher. of the population to do very well. The rest was a bit, I mean, literally everything else seemed like a later idea.
AP: So let me ask you, yeah, because you’ve seen the polls. There are many voters who are very pessimistic. When I look at the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey, even Democrats started worrying a lot about the economy a year ago, and we’ve had people who have basically gone through a pandemic. shortage of basic goods, inflation, etc. some of the political divisions you are seeing right now on the Hill with the January 6 hearings, and also a war in Europe. And as you as president, you provide a sense of stability and strength … (talk)
BIDEN: Well, if you notice, until gas prices started to go up, which was more or less the same time, the University of Michigan survey, they had a very different view. Things were so much more, so much more optimistic. We went in and started to grow the economy significantly. We could, oh, you know, go from 2 million gunshots to 225 million. People had access to deal with the pandemic. We started opening businesses, opening up access to work, and so on. But then, in my experience, how I grew up, if you want a direct barometer of what people will talk about at the kitchen table and the dining room table and if things are going well, it’s the cost of food and what the cost of gasoline at the pump. I mean literally the bomb.
And if you look at it, you know, gasoline went up $ 1.25 right away, almost when Putin’s war started. Um, and as I said at the time, by the way, I made it clear with helping Ukraine and organizing NATO to help Ukraine, that this was going to cost. There would be a price to pay for that. It was, this will not be free, but we had, the option of doing nothing was worse. Had he actually moved to Ukraine, taken over Ukraine and Belarus, where he is located, and been a threat to NATO, all of these things would have been even more serious.
AP: Why is that? Because you seem to know the risks of Ukraine in terms of higher gasoline prices …
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: … that involved political risks for you at home …
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: … so when, when your aides 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’s not about my political survival. This is what is best for the country. It’s not a joke. It’s not a joke. So what’s up? What if the strongest power, NATO, an organizational structure we have created, moves away from the Russian aggression of more than 100,000 soldiers marching across a border to try, occupy and eliminate the culture of everything? a village? So what happens? What happens next? What do we do next?
AP: What did you have to do next if you didn’t?
BIDEN: Oh, I’m afraid what happens next is that you’re going to see chaos in Europe. You will see the possibility of them continuing to move. You have already seen what they do in Belarus. What would happen to the surrounding countries. See what happens in Poland, and in the Czech Republic and all NATO members. For example, you know, the reason Putin said he would join was because he didn’t want them to join NATO. And, uh, he, he, he, he, he, he wanted the kind of finlandization of NATO. Instead, it got NATO out of Finland. (laughs) No, I’m serious.
AP: Yes.
BIDEN: And so the idea that if the United States stays, what does China think of Taiwan? So what does North Korea think about nuclear weapons beyond testing and pressure?
AP: Do you think Americans have that sense of gambling on a daily basis?
BIDEN: No, I don’t. But I don’t think, look, every day, most households just try to figure out how to put, before, even when things were going well, figure out how to put food on the table, take care of the kids. , pay for your education, just basics. You know, look, eh, one of the ones I’ve always proposed to younger people who want to get into public life, I ask them two things: Have you figured out what’s worth losing? Have you discovered what is worth losing? If you don’t understand, don’t get involved in politics. Go to a more profitable organization, a business. Go into business, go into business, don’t do it, be committed. But unless you know what it’s worth to get lost, don’t commit. Number one. Number two. The purpose of public service is to promote opinions that you believe are best for the American people.
I made a commitment and I think I can say I never broke, if I commit to it. This time I would not run again. I mean really. I wasn’t going to run. I just lost my son, I was teaching Penn, I liked him, until all those boys came, they came out of the woods …
AP: Charlottesville.
BIDEN: … the people of Charlottesville and this other guy said “good people on both sides” when an innocent woman was murdered, and so on. And I made a decision. I’ve been doing this too long to do anything other than try to do what’s 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 done foreign policy all my career. I am convinced that if we let Russia and Putin roll, it will not stop.
AP: Let me ask you about another difficult choice you made. When you took office, it seems you decided to prioritize job growth. Republicans are currently telling voters that inflation started with your COVID relief package.
BIDEN: No proof of that. No proof of that, number one. Second, last year we reduced the deficit by $ 350 billion. We have reduced the deficit by one trillion, 700 billion this year. We grow the economy. Today, we have more people employed than in a very, very long time and we have earned 8.6 million more jobs. And guess what? We still have hundreds of thousands of jobs open.
AP: So you think that when Treasury Secretary Yellen said he could have made a marginal contribution to inflation that this was off? Someone informed you (interrupted)
BIDEN: Yes, I have been informed.
AP: Possible exchanges?
BIDEN: Now you just said two different things. You said Republicans said I caused inflation. He said it could have a marginal impact. Two different things. It could be argued that it had a marginal and minor impact on inflation. I guess he didn’t. And most economists believe he did not. But the idea that caused inflation is strange.
AP: Let me ask, step back, after yesterday’s Fed meeting. I know you said, “Look, our economy is strong. We have these jobs. It’s the best thing we’ve seen in decades. “But then there are serious economists who warn of a recession next year.
BIDEN: Of course.
AP: What should Americans believe?
BIDEN: They shouldn’t believe a warning. They just have to say, “Let’s see. Let’s see which one is right. “And from my point of view, you’ve talked about a recession. First, it’s not inevitable. Second, we’re in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation. “It’s bad. Isn’t it a little interesting? If it’s my fault, why is it the case in all the other major industrial countries in the world that inflation is highest? Wondering that? “Why? Why is it? As a result of our spending, we’ve reduced the deficit. We’ve increased employment, we’ve increased wages. There was a survey done, uh, for the, eh.” , I forget what it was, what it was now, about three months ago. the work they had and were in good financial shape.
AP: I think it was a Fed poll. However, you see this interesting change in the census dust surveys, which show that people are clearly busy in a way that they had not been. They depend less on unemployment and government benefits for aid, and yet more of them say they have trouble meeting their week …