Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event in Support of Senator Bob Casey | Bryn Mawr, PA
Private Residence
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
7:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello. (Laughter.) Good to see you all.
Look, it’s good to be almost home. (Laughter.) I lived not far from here, just across the line, in Delaware, and it’s good to be with family. That’s what Pennsylvania and the Caseys are to me: family. That’s a fact.
Matt and Staci and your children — thanks so much for hosting us. Just what you wanted to hear, Bobby, that, you know, your brother — I call your brother and said, “We got 6,000 Secret Service agents showing up.” (Laughter.) And thanks for being one of my great friends, pal. Thanks (inaudible).
Look, we have something in common. We share a common lot, Bob and I: We both married way up. (Laughter.)
Traci, your daughter’s here today. Always great to see you.
And along with a large, extended Casey family, including Casey’s sisters, Margi and Mary Ellen, and — and their families as well.
I also want to thank another great friend, Madeleine Dean. Madeleine, you’re out there somewhere, but I don’t — (applause). You know, since I’m the only — the second Irish Catholic ever to be elected, I — when I go to Ireland, I could get elected Taoiseach — but they did all my genealogy, and I think we’re related, kid. I have — (laughter) — anyway. You think I’m kidding. I’m not.
Folks, it feels like Scranton again. I grew up on North Washington Avenue and the Caseys grew up on Wyoming, a few blocks away — Wyoming Avenue. Whether it was church or c- — or conversations around the kitchen table, my — the Finnegan family, my grandpop was with the — with the Tribune and he was — anyway, our families knew each other.
You can define their mother and their father by a single word: integrity. They’re two of the most honorable people I’ve ever known. I — actually, we’re about the same age apart from hi- — his dad and me, and me and — and Bobby. And — but it’s not a surprise that Bobby is just like his family — a man of character, a friend who always has your back, and leader who keeps his word.
Like his dad, Bobby has always believed in public service and public trust — that it was a public trust.
And where we grew up — just like many of you, you grew up with a basic value set. Bobby knows my mom taught me the same thing as he got taught, that you have to be a man of your word. Without your word, you’re not a man. She’d say, “Everybody is your equal, but no one’s — no one is better than you, Joey.”
“Courage,” she’d say to me, “every — lives in every heart, and one day it will be summoned.”
Well, I saw Bobby’s father and mother summon that courage. I saw Bobby summon it as well.
You know, Bobby knows what my dad taught me: No one’s looking for a handout, but everybody just wants a fair shot, a way up, a chance.
My dad taught me — and I mean this sincerely. He’d come home from work — our dinner table was a place we had conversation and, incidentally, ate. And my dad used to say, and I — I’m not joking — he said, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in the community. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.”
Just a fair shot. Well, that’s Bobby. That’s Bobby, and a leader of Pennsylvania you can always count on.
He fights for those core values. He understands the struggles and hopes of people in Pennsylvania. And he always stands up for working folks, folks. He takes on powerful special interests, just as he’s able to walk across the aisle and get all things done for Pennsylvania when he can work in a bipartisan way.
Bob Casey is one of the most effective, the most bipartisan senators in the entire country, and I’ve seen it throughout my career, especially in the last four years.
When Kamala and I came to office, with Bobby’s help, we were determined to end the trickle-down economics — the idea that if the wealthy do very, very well, a lot will trickle down to the ordinary middle-class folks. But guess what? Not a whole lot ever trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table.
You know, we were determined to grow this economy in a different way — grow it from the middle out and the bottom up. That way, the wealthy still do very well, but everybody got a fighting chance.
And if you notice, the vast majority of the mainstream economists are giving us credit for a fundamental shift. We have the best economy in the world — that’s not hyperbole — in the world.
For me and Bobby, it comes down to looking out w- — you know, we — I — we call up where I come from in Scranton, Scranton values versus Mar a Lago values. I’ll g- — (laughter). No, I mean it. I’ll give you one example.
For the longest time, I’ve been trying to give Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices. I did that when I was a senator. I worked like hell. Well, we — we got it passed by a vote, and, with Bobby’s help, we finally took on Big Pharma.
I d- — Big Pharma should be able to make money. I’m not suggesting they shouldn’t, but Medicare was the only organization that could not negotiate drug prices. They could, at the Veterans Administration, negotiate lower drug prices.
For example, seniors with diabetes a- — they need insulin. Well, it used to cost $400 a month on average. It now costs $35 a month.
You know how much it cost them to make it? $10 a month. Package it? $12 a month.
And starting in January, seniors will have a total out-of-pocket prescription drug cost capped at $2,000 no matter what they’re pay — no matter what they pay. (Applause.)
You can get back on Air Force One with me — and this is not hyperbole — I can take you to any capital in the world. If you take a prescription you have here in the United States, come with me — whether it’s Toronto, Berlin, Hamburg, wherever it is — and I can get you that same prescription from the same company somewhere between 20 and 60 percent less. That’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact. That is a fact — a fact.
You know — so, you know, these expensive cancer drugs cost 10- 12-, 14,000 bucks a year. Well, starting in January, seniors will not have to pay any more than $2,000 for the total drug costs.
And, by the way, our reforms not only save seniors money, they save all you taxpayers money. You know how much this little bill saves the American taxpayer, all of you? $160 billion. It doesn’t cost the c- — (applause) — it doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny. $160 billion. Because they don’t have to pay — they don’t have to pay the exorbitant prices they were being charged before. They pay what it costs them — what it costs the government to p- — to buy it.
You know, we were told we couldn’t get that — any of this done. Because of Bobby, we got it done.
I can go on about Bobby and how he’s doing everything he can to keep the economy strong and working people and the middle class.
You know, the middle class built this country. That’s a fact. And, you know, the fact is that unions built the middle class.
I — I’m — you know, I come from the corporate state of Delaware. We have more major corporations registered in Delaware than every other state in the Union combined. Many of you have your corporations there. Many of you have them. So, I’m not antibusiness. I represented that state for 36 years.
But things that this guy wants to do — we’re running against. We — I want to stren- – we strengthened the Affordable Care Act, which Trump wants to eliminate.
If you eliminated the Affordable Care Act — this is a fact — 100 million people with pre-existing conditions would no longer get coverage. What would that cost the government and all — I mean, think — think what it would cost the government if that were the case with all those costs.
Bobby’s protecting Social Security and Medicare, which Trump wants to cut.
Bobby has taken on corporate greed, what they call “shrinkflation.” I — I want everybody to make a fair price, but the idea that — it’s outrageous that snack companies think folks won’t notice that they charge the same amount of money for bag of potato chips with fewer potato chips in it. (Laughter.) No, I’m not joking. That’s going on, pal. Seriously.
It’s taking advantage of the American people. And one thing that angers me is when that happens. Bobby knows the American people don’t like being played for suckers.
He’s also fighting for the rights of workers to organize because they do better — all workers do better and the entire country does better.
I had when — we did the — there — anyway, I won’t bore you with all the detail, but I had them check out when we were — more unions were coming in. I said, “What — what’s the effect on the average worker?” Everybody’s wages went up. Everybody’s wages went up.
He’s committed to defending women’s rights and voting rights and so much more.
It’s also critical that we lay out the stark contrast in choice of this election, folks. I don’t care what your predilection is politically, but did you ever — literally, not a joke — did you ever study, see, think about a president who’s been so unethical as this president has been? No, I’m — I’m not joking.
Did you see what came out today? It came out today that when — in the middle of the pandemic, we were short on tests that we could get tests to people — and, by the way, the way he handled the pandemic was this — was a — wa- — was a disgrace — disgrace. Over a million people died.
But guess what? Those sure — those tests to determine whether you had COVID were in short supply, so he called his good friend Putin — not a joke — and made sure he had the test. He had the test. What the hell is wrong with this guy? I’m not — I’m not jok- — I’m — serious. I’m being deadly earnest.
Pennsylvania is the kind of place that climbs into your heart and never leaves you. And trust me, I know. I was born here, and I married a Philly girl. (Laughter and applause.) I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid. I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter. (Laughter.) You all think I’m kidding. If I didn’t root for the Phillies, I’d be sleeping alone for a long time. (Applause.) They think I’m kidding. (Laughter.)
But any rate, trust me when I saw — wh- — when I say Pennsylvania never left Bob Casey and Bob Casey has never left Pennsylvania. It’s part of who he is.
But his opponent left Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania sure as hell left him. His opponent doesn’t seem to understand that in Pennsylvania, money doesn’t determine your worth. Money doesn’t determine your — it’s — I hope you make all the money in the world. That’s wonderful. Just pay your fair share of taxes like the rest of us do. It’s okay by me.
But money doesn’t determine a person’s wealth or standing. It’s your integrity, your character, your honor — your sense of integrity, character, and honor. That’s the base, and that’s the company he keeps. This guy — Bobby stands up for leaders. (Applause.)
Look — and, by the way, he stands by other leaders of integrity, character, and honor, our great — great vice — our great vice president, Kamala Harris.
But he also — guess — this is the guy who — I’m going to say something self-serving. When I left the Senate after 36 years, I was voted as the most — the guy who got more done crossing the aisle. I — I’m a partisan guy. I’m a Democrat. But when things need to be done, we cross the aisle, shake hands. That’s what this guy does. He gets more bipartisan things done. He’s a man that kids can look up to.
Meanwhile, his opponent is lockstep with Donald Trump, voted by the history- — political historians as the most dishonorable president in American history. That’s not hyperbole. Just read what he’s saying, what he’s doing.
But it’s worth repeating what Bobby just said about his opponent. His opponent said the Supreme Court is overturning Roe v. Wade made him very, very happy. His opportnent supposted [opponent supported] an extreme ban on — with no exceptions of rape for* incest.
Not only that, as Bobby said, his opponent made a fortune investing millions of dollars in companies producing fentanyl in China that’s causing an overdose of epidemic ravi- — and, by the way, we’re talking about more people dying from fentanyl than any other cause now in teenagers. Think about that. Think about that.
One of the things I’m doing — having a — a — I — I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping than any world leader has, over 98 hours alone with him. We’re making it real clear. He’s got to change the deal. He can’t continue to provide the byproducts with fentanyl — the products that were in the fentanyl. And this guy is supporting it.
Folks, there is a fundamental choice in this election — a choice between a true Pennsylvanian, who sees Pennsylvania as a place to serve his people, or a Connecticut hedge fund CEO who still lives in Connecticut and who sees Pennsylvania only as a place from which to run for office.
Bob understands something his opponent — his opponent doesn’t. As I said before, Wall Street is a good pl- — I have nothing against Wall Street, but Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class.
Folks, let me close with this. As you all know better than — as well as I do — and, by the way, I look out here, and I hate to — don’t want to ruin your reputation, but about a third of you, the reason why I’m in the Senate. You think I’m joking. You guys raised more money for me over the years when I was a senator — and, anyway — (laughter).
That — that — that’s when Delaware was — and they’re good people — that was — that was when Delaware was all DuPont and all red.
And — but, look, Bobby’s race is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, and he’s being — this guy is being massively outspent. But people in this — under this tent know the elections in Pennsylvania are always close. This one is no different.
Yes, we need to elect Kamala and Tim as president and vice president, but we also need to hold the Senate — hold the Senate. We simply can’t hold the Senate without reelecting Bobby Casey. That’s just a fact. (Applause.)
And, by the way, there’s no greater champion for Pennsylvania than Bob, and there’s no one I trust more in the United States Senate than Bobby. And now we have to — we have to be champions for him, for the sake of the state, for the sake of our country.
I know we can do this. I’ve never been more — I’ve been doing — I know I only look like I’m 40, but — (laughter) — I’ve been around a hell of a long time.
But I can say with — with absolute integrity and honesty, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future than I am today. We have the strongest economy in the world. We’re the only nation, from a historical perspective, that’s come out of every crisis stronger than we went into that crisis.
And look who the world looks to. We’re the strongest military, not — not only recently, in the history of the world — not a joke — in the history of the world.
We’re the best workers in the world. When I went back to get all the chips being made in — overseas, getting back — bringing back home, I met with the president of Samsung in South Korea, investing $15 billion in building a new (inaudible) — anyway, and I asked him why he was doing it. And he said, “Because you have the most qualified workers in the world, and it’s the safest place in the world to invest my money.”
We’re the most dyna- — dynamic scientists and entrepreneurs and innovators in the world. And, again, that’s not hyperbole. We have the best research universities in the world. And above all, we’re the only nation in the world, as I said, that emerged stronger from crisis than we entered it.
And Bobby’s — with Bobby’s leadership, we’re doing it with the new playbook, based on one of the oldest truths of our nation: Believe in America. Believe in the American people. They just need a shot.
We have to remember who in the hell we are. I mean this sincerely. I’m being deadly earnest. We’re the United States of America. There is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity, nothing, when we work together and — to get it done, and we’re going to do it this time.
So please elect him. We need him badly.
God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you. (Applause.)
7:14 P.M. EDT
