JOE BIDEN: Good
afternoon, folks.
Sorry I'm
a little late.
I was
Mesmerized as
I was walking
out of the office,
listening
to an interview of the
former general and Bill
Cohen former
secretary of
defense, and
before I begin,
I want to speak
a little bit
to what they
talked about
and the revelations
about
President Trump's
disregard
for our military and our
veterans.
Quite frankly, if
what is written in the
Atlantic is true, it's
disgusting, and
affirms what
most of us believe to be
true, that Donald
Trump is
not fit to do the job of
president, to be the
commander-in-chief.
The
president reportedly
said,
and I emphasize reported
reportedly said,
that those
who sign up to
serve instead
of doing something more
lucrative are suckers.
Let
me be clear:
When my son was
assistant US
attorney and he
volunteered to
go to Kosovo
while the war
was going on
as a civilian,
he wasn't a
sucker.
When my son
volunteered
and joined the
United States
military as
the Attorney General and
went to Iraq
for a year, won
the bronze star
and other
commendations,
he wasn't a
sucker.
The servicemen and
women he served with,
particularly
those who did
not come home,
are not loser
losers.
These statements --
if these statements are
true, the president
should
apologize to
every gold star
mother and father
and every
blue star family
that he's
denigrated and insulted.
Who the heck
does he think
he is?
Is it true?
Well, we've heard
from his own
mouth his characterizations
of John McCain
as a loser in
2015.
Donald Trump said he
was not a war hero.
I like people who
weren't captured.
Well, good for him.
And his
dismissal of
the traumatic
brain injuries
suffered by
troops serving
in Iraq as
mere headaches
not too long
ago, he stood
by, failing --
failing to take
action or
even raise the
issue with
Vladimir Putin
while they
put bounce on heads
of American troops in
Afghanistan.
It's a sacred duty.
Auto you're tired of
hearing me say this, I
get in trouble,
but I'll say it
again.
We have many obligations
to the
government.
We have only
one truly sacred
obligation.
Equip and support
those who
we send into harm's way,
care for their families
while they're
gone and care
for them when
they're home.
That's the only
truly sacred
obligation the
government
has.
Duty, honor, country.
These are values
that drive
our service members.
It's
an all voluntary outfit.
President Trump has
demonstrated
he has no sense
of service,
no loyalty to
any cause other than
himself.
If I have the
honor of being
the next commander-in-chief,
I will ensure that our
American heroes
know I'll
have their backs, honor
their sacrifice,
and those
who have been
injured will
be in military parades.
I'm always cautioned
not to
lose my temper.
This may be
as close as I've come in
this campaign.
Just a marker
of how deeply
President Trump and I
disagree about
the role the
president of the United
States of America.
You know,
The job reports came out
this morning.
I'm grateful
for everyone
who found work
again and found
a glimmer of
hope that brings
them back
from the edge.
But there is
real cause for
concern as
well.
The job gains in
August were slower than
July, significantly
slower
than in May and June.
More and more temporary
layoffs
are turning
into permanent
layoffs.
28 million people
have filed for
unemployment.
After six months in the
pandemic, we're
less than
halfway back to where we
were were, with
11.5 million
Americans not
getting their
jobs back.
We're still down
720,000 -- (inaudible).
I've talked to
a lot of real
working people,
asked them
if they feel
like they're
being left behind, asked
them how they
feel about the
economy coming back.
You'll
find they don't feel it.
That's why I'm
hear to thank
them for hosting us in
Wilmington.
(inaudible) --
It's been around
for 1030
years through
pandemic, war,
depression.
We're just
looking for a
chance, not a
handout.
Just a fair shot
at a good job,
a safe place
to live and a
better life to
pass down to their kids.
This is a special
place for
the Biden family.
My daughter Ashley,
a social
worker, was a caseworker
here, helping young
people who are aging
out of foster
care.
When my son was the
Attorney General,
the boat
came right here to learn
more about job training
programs for
those working
toward a GED and a
certificate for a
good-paying job.
EnI was
senator and, there were
plenty of economists
to talk
about every
aspect of the
economy, but I always
think about the people
who walk through the
doors here, working
people, white,
black, brown, Latino.
What
are they doing?
Are they
OK?
I know if they're OK,
they walked through
these doors, the
economy was doing
OK.
If they weren't OK, we
weren't doing well.
That's what we should
be thinking
about, this latest job
report.
But the report
reinforces the
worst fears
and painful truths.
The economic inequities
that
began before
the downturn
have only worsened under
this failed presidency.
When the crisis
started we
all hoped for
a few months
of a shout shoutdown
would
be followed by rapid
economic turnaround.
No-one thought
they would lose
their job for
good or see
small businesses
shut down
en masse.
That kind of recovery
requires leadership
-- leadership
we didn't have
and still don't have.
And as a result,
economists are starting
to call this
recession a K- K-shaped
recession, which
is a fancy
phrase for what's
wrong with
everything about Trump's
presidency.
The K means
those at the
top are seeing
things go up,
and those in
in the middle
and below are
seeing things
go down and
get worse.
It's no surprise
because at the
root of this
is the fact
that Trump has
mismanaged the
COVID crisis,
and that's why it's a
K-shaped pandemic.
First
First, the president's
chaotic mismanagement
of the
pandemic is still
holding us
back.
Compared to other major
industrial countries
in Europe and
Asia, during
the pandemic, our
unemployment
rate is still
more than double, while
other nations
have only gone
up by half.
Why?
Because the president
has botched
the COVID response,
botched
it badly.
I've said from
the beginning
we can't deal
with an economic crisis
until you beat
the pandemic.
You can't have
an economic
come comeback
when almost a
thousand Americans
die each
day from COVID, when the
death toll was
reached about
200,000, when more than
6 million Americans have
been infected, when
millions more worry
about getting sick and
dying and schools and
businesses try
to reopen.
We all know
it didn't have
to be this bad.
It didn't have to be
this bad to begin
with if the president
just did his job, if he
just took the virus
seriously early on, in
January and February,
as it spread around the
globe, if he just took
the steps we needed back
in March and April to
institute widespread
testing and testing
to control the
virus, if he provided
clear national
scientific-based
guidance to state
and local
authorities,
if he just set
a good example,
like social
distancing and wearing a
mask.
It's not too much to
ask.
It's almost like he
doesn't care, it doesn't
affect him because it
doesn't affect
him or his
class of friends.
Anyone with a big
enough chequebook
can get rapid tests on
demand.
If you don't, you
might have to
wait in line
for hours and
wait for weeks
to get your
result, if you
can get them at all.
If you have the kind of
job where you can work
from a laptop at home,
remotely, risking
getting COVID
is very small
at work.
This job report
shows that 37
million people
imported tele--
reporting
teleworking in August.
But
if you work
in an assembly
line or checkout
counter or
meat-packing
plant or drive
a truck or deliver
packages
packages, you're at much
greater risk.
The job
report shows
that more than
27 million workers
reported
that they couldn't
work or
lost hours because their
employer had to close or
lost business due to the
pandemic.
If you can hire a
private tutor or have a
live-in child
care, you can
balance being
a parent and
remote schooling.
If you
can't, you have
to do your
job and be a
teacher all at
once.
Jill and I have held
briefings on reopening
school safety
two days ago,
asking the question,
as we
hear so many
parents call
and ask us, educators as
well, who feel
like they're
in an impossible
situation.
What are they
supposed to do
with our children
when the
president has made it so
hard for schools
to reopen
safely?
What's the alternative
when it's
devastating to keep them
isolated from
their friends
and support systems?
I also
said earlier
this week to
the shock of many, if we
lost more cops
this year to
COVID than on patrol, a
reminder how an already
dangerous job of law
enforcement has
gotten more
dangerous because
of Trump's
mismanagement.
What may be
just as shocking is many
other jobs have
also become
dangerous due to COVID.
Being a health
care worker
is now more
dangerous than
ever.
We've lost hundreds
of them this
year because
they weren't
protected from
COVID on the job.
Being a meat
packer is more
dangerous than ever.
So many have died due to
getting COVID at work.
Work for waitresses
and waiters
and transit workers
all have
become more dangerous so
many dying of COVID.
Ladies and gentlemen,
no matter
what he says or what he
claims, you are
not safer in
Donald Trump's America.
You're not safe
in Donald
Trump's America, where
people are dying
at a rate
last seen when Americans
were fighting
in World War
II.
Donald Trump's
malpractice during this
pandemic has
made being a
working American
a life or
death work.
And while there's
a disproportionate
impact on black,
Latino and
Asian Americans
and native
Americans working
working-class
communities,
white working-class
communities
are being hit
hard as well.
Opioid deaths
are up during
the pandemic,
another crisis
that Trump
continues to
all but ignore.
In the meantime,
Trump and
his friends
have strongest
views about what
the rest of
America should do: Cut
unemployment benefits to
force people
to go back to
their jobs, end
of quote, de
defund social
security and
eliminate Obama
care in the
middle of a pandemic.
Reopen public schools
without resources or
guidance.
Reopen mainstream
businesses without
protection for
workers so
corporations
can continue to
soar.
This is their plan?
Second and similarly,
the
economic pain remains
unrelenting for
millions of
working people
of every race
and background
who aren't
getting the relief they
need.
Meanwhile, some are
doing better than ever.
This divergence
in fortunes
is unique to
any recession
this recent memory,
and the
painful truth is we just
have a president
who just
doesn't see it.
He doesn't
feel it.
He doesn't
understand.
He just doesn't
care.
He thinks of the
stock market
-- if the stock
market is up,
everything is
fine.
If his wealthy friends
and donors are doing
well, then everything
is doing well.
If corporations
see their valuations
rising,
then they must
be hiring.
But the best
economists know
what I know.
I learned
growing up in
Scranton and
and up the road, places
where folks aren't
invested
in the market
like wealthy
Americans, a
measure of our
economic success is the
quality of life of the
American people.
And if
your stock soars,
families
teeter on the brink of
hunger and homelessness
and
our president calls that
success, what
does that say
about what he values?
When
you see the world
in such a
narrow prism,
it's no wonder
he doesn't see nearly
30 million Americans on
unemployment, one in six
small businesses
that are
closed right now.
He doesn't understand
what life
is like for
people walking
by their boarded-up
shops,
educators afraid
that doing
their job, a
job they love,
will bring the
virus home to
the people they
love, or a
parent searching
for health
insurance now that the
furlough has
turned into a
layoff.
No wonder he
doesn't see
the single mom
forced to wait in a
three-hour food line.
So
for the first
time in her
life, so she
can feed her
family because she's now
part of the one in six
households with
children who
don't have enough
to eat.
He wants us to
believe we're
doing better,
to keep it up
and not notice that this
remains the
worst economic
situation since
the Great
Depression, and
our country
faces a historic
divergence
in our way of life.
Which
gets me to my third and
final point,
and what the
American people
really need
to understand.
All the pain
and suffering stems from
President Trump's
failure to
lead, his sheer
inability
and unwillingness
to bring
people together.
He likes
to sign executive
orders,
actions for
photo ops, but
they're ill-conceived
and
can do more harm
than good.
He says preventing
renters
from eviction,
that's what
he's doing, but he's not
giving them
any support to
pay their rent
when it comes
due.
Millions of Americans
will be left with a
terrible choice between
eviction and
living in the streets or
paying back rent
they simply
don't have when
there was an
answer offered
and rejected.
He says he's
continuing to
provide enhanced
unemployment insurance
payments, but he cut the
amount that
everyone on it
received, leaves
the money
edged when it
runs out in a
few weeks or sooner.
He
should be doing
his job of
calling congressional
leaders together
immediately
to get a deal
and deliver
real results for the
American people.
This is the first
president in the
middle of a crisis
I've ever
seen has called Congress
into the Oval Office.
If I were president,
that's what
I'd do and get
it done like
previous presidents,
food,
unemployment assistance,
tens of millions of
struggling Americans,
student loan
relief, an aid
to schools and state
governments
that are going
bankrupt.
As long as this
pandemic and the
accompanying economic
catastrophe persists,
no-one
should have
their water or
power cut off
because they
can't afford to pay the
bill.
Bottom line, Mr
President: Do your job.
Get
off your golf
course and out
of the sand bunker.
Call the leaders
together in the
Oval Office.
Sit with them
and make a deal
-- make a
deal that delivers for
working Americans
and eases
their anxiety and pain.
In
July, I laid
out my build
back better plan for an
economy that works
for everyone.
Over the next three
weeks I'll be laying
out the sharp
contrast my
plan with the
president's
non-plans.
I'll be asking
the American
people three
basic questions: Who can
handle the pandemic?
Who
can keep their promises?
And who cares
about and will
fight for working
families?
Like the people
here at West
End, throughout this
pandemic they
found their
way to keep the
center open
safely and provide for
critical services.
No-one
here has been laid off.
They adjust
adjusted their
spaces for social
distancing.
They started a
lending program to help
local businesses, hair
salons and other small
businesses.
They continued
their child
care services,
which is critical for so
many working families.
By
pure courage,
heart and grit
grit, they never
give up and
they never give
in, and to
pursue the full promise
for America.
That's the story of this
community and this
country.
That's who we are.
Give ordinary Americans
just half a chance, and
they never let the
country down, they'll do
extraordinary things.
They'll never let us
down, unlike the
current president.
And unlike the current
president, I won't let
you down either.
That's what this
election is about,
helping people
unite, get
together, and move this
country back in the
direction that
we can be.
There's nothing
beyond our
capacity, nothing, if we
just do it together.
Thank
you all.
I now will take
your questions.
Go ahead
and call.
>>Thank you.
This morning
(inaudible)
-- and that his soul is
that of a coward?
You've talked about this
as a different view of
how you see the of
president, but when you
hear these remarks,
suck suckers, loser,
recoiling from amputees,
what does it tell you
about President
Trump's soul and
the life he leads?
JOE BIDEN: I'm
going to try to
be measured in
my response.
If it's true,
and based on
the things he said, I
believe the article
is true,
I'd ask you all
a rhetorical
question: How
do you feel?
How would you
feel if you
had a kid in affidavits
right now?
-- Afghanistan
right now?
How would you
feel if you
lost a son or
daughter, husband
or wife?
How would you
feel feel, for
real?
I know it's not your
job to express
that feeling,
but you know.
You know in your heart,
you know in your
gut, it's deplorable.
It's
deplorable deplorable.
As I've said
many times and
I'll say again,
these folks
are the backbone
of America
America.
They're the heart,
the soul, the grit.
That's what
patronnism is
about.
I've probably --
I've just never been as
disappointed in my whole
career with
a leader that
I've worked with,
president
or otherwise,
that if the
article is true, and it
appears to be, based on
the things he said, it is
absolutely damnable.
It is a disgrace.
>>A somewhat
related topic
P.
What would you say to
the supporters
of the people
who live in
the conspiracy
what they think is true
about America, that
there is sex trafficking
and a
conspiracy against
President Trump, and
what would you
say to President
Trump for
not rejecting that
conspiracy and
the people
who believe in it?
JOE
BIDEN: I'm I've
been a big
supporter of
mental health.
I People should take
advantage while it still
exists in the Affordable
Care Act.
It's bizarre,
totally bizarre.
And now
have you guys found that
plane-load of people in
uniforms and weapons and
flying around?
Have you
found them yet?
By the way,
I respect Conservative
and
Liberal points
of view in
the press.
Anybody found
that plane?
What in God's
name are we doing?
Look at how it
makes us look
around the world.
It's
mortifying.
It's embarrassing,
and it's
dangerous.
It's dangerous.
If the president doesn't
know better,
which he has to
know better,
then, my Lord,
we're in much
more trouble
than I ever thought
we were.
It's bizarre.
This is the
case where --
I've been surprised,
pleased
but surprised,
with folks
I've had political
arguments
with, like the former
governor of Michigan
coming
out to endorse
me, all the
Republicans
are endorsing
me.
This can't go on.
This
cannot go on.
It's a
deconstruction of a
Democratic system.
They
know it.
I'll conclude
with what you
heard me say many times
before.
The words of a
president matter, even a
lousy president.
It gives succour,
encouragement,
to people who
are spouting irrational
views that no-one
has even
close to presuming or
showing ever existed.
It's
done for a simple
reason.
From the very
beginning he's
understood the
only way he
can win the
first time and
can win this
time is if he
fundamentally
divides the
nation, puts
the nation --
divides it so
we're at each
other's throats.
That's not
who we are.
That's not who
we are are.
>>Thank you, Mr Vice
President.
Last night
President Trump
mocked you
for wearing a
mask and said
that this is
a sign that you
must have some
"big issues
issues." He
says this even
though he knows that,
according to
scientists and
public health officials,
wearing masks
saves lives.
I wonder if
you worry that
this kind of
language that
comes from the President
of the United States
could deter some
Americans that
are tuning into
him to not
wear masks.
JOE BIDEN: I.
JOE BIDEN: I'm a smart
fellow.
I listen to
scientists.
This is not a
game.
Life and death, life
and death.
Reports that
we're going to
have maybe --
some reports
say as many as
another 100,000
dead maybe
by the end of the year.
I
don't get it.
I mean, I
just -- anyway,
it's hard to
respond to something so
idiotic.
>>Have you been
tested now
for COVID-19?
How many
times?
JOE BIDEN: I've
been tested once
with a deep
test and I'm going to
continue to
be tested on a
regular basis.
>>Attorney
General William
Barr said on
CNN this week
his assessment
right now is that China
poses the greatest
threat to US elections,
even more than
Iran or Russia.
Do you believe him?
Is that also your
understanding based on
the intelligence
briefings you have
received?
JOE BIDEN: No, it's not.
He's a lousy enough
Attorney
General, but he's a
really bad intelligence
officer.
>>It's not consistent
because you
believe -- JOE
BIDEN: I believe
what I've
been told, and
you all know
it.
Look, you even have
Facebook taking some --
look, it's just
-- there are
a lot of countries
around
the world that
I think would
be happy to see our
elections destabilized,
but
the one who's
working the
hardest, most
consistently,
and never has let up, is
Russia.
Again, it's unfair
to say to you
guys, but ask
yourself the rhetorical
question: What is he so
afraid of?
Vladimir Putin.
I mean, what's
the problem?
I mean, nothing,
nothing.
It's almost object
seekious.
Owseqious.
I just want to
make it clear.
I believe
any country that
engages in
any activity to
delegitimateize
or impact on
American elections is a
direct violation of our
sovereignty, and if I'm
President of the United
States, there will be a
response.
>>Sir, it's been a couple
of weeks now since you
announced Senator
Harris as
your running mate and we
haven't seen her out
much, including
yesterday in Kenosha.
Why is that and what
role do you see her
playing is this.
JOE BIDEN:
The role is
just like when
Obama and I
campaigned, we
tried to cover as much
territory as we could.
She is an incredibly
competent
candidate.
She is doing
a great job.
There will be times when
we're together, but
there's a lot of
territory to cover.
I talk with her almost
every day.
I speak with her.
We work together.
And I have great
confidence in her.
There's nothing about not
campaigning together.
It's about being able to
cover more territory.
>>This is a second
question.
Do you know when you will
have another COVID
test?
Do you have any plan, any
future testing coming
up?
JOE BIDEN: We're doing
it on a regular basis
because everyone on my
service detail and
people who come into the
house with me, they
all are tested.
I yes, sir, show up
and put my head back
when they tell me.
>>Do you know when it
will be, the next one?
JOE BIDEN: I imagine it
will be sometime this
week.
I just don't know.
But it will be a
regular basis.
>>Thank you.
>>Thank you, sir.
Let me
ask you about
another thing
the president said last
night.
He once again suggested
to his supporters
that they should
consider voting twice if
they're in one of those
states that can
allow you to request an
absentee ballot, fill
that out and then
go try voting
again in person.
State officials have said
it's a felony in some
cases.
I'm curious what
you make of it.
JOE BIDEN: It
is a felony.
It's a felony here in
the state of Delaware.
How many times does
this president
have to suggest
things and
say things when you all
don't just write he's a
fraud?
Not an opinion.
He wanted maybe
we should delay
the election.
Maybe we
should write-in
ballots are
fraudulent.
Not a single
bit of evidence.
And I
think it's all
designed to
create so many
chaos that no
matter what
the outcome of
the election
is, that it's
thrown up in the air.
That must be his
reason, because
he says and does
things that
no other president
that I'm
aware of in American
history
has ever done.
Well, there's another
ridiculous,
illegal, inappropriate
thing
he said, but
he says so many
of them, it doesn't
matter.
It just undermines the
legitimacy of
our Democratic
process, and
it's dangerous.
>>You said today is the
angryiest you've
been as a
presidential candidate.
But
you said you're
trying to
restrain yourself.
There
are a lot of people out
there who are
supporting you
or are inclined
to not vote
for the president
who would
say why is Joe Biden not
angle angrier
about this.
JOE BIDEN: Because
presidents of the
United States should be
presidential
and should lead
by example, as
well as make
clear exactly where they
stand stand.
Getting down
in the gutter like the
president does, saying
things that I'd
be inclined
if we were behind a barn
somewhere would be a
different thing.
But that's not the
job of a president.
The job of a
president is to
set an example.
My anger is real because,
I must tell
you, I carry, and I
deliberately didn't
bring it with me today,
the Delaware national
guard had a pin made
up that's a gold star
that was made
up for my son
Beau, who didn't
die in the field.
And I always carry
it with me.
And I didn't
carry it today
because I was
worried that
if I focused
too much on it,
that I would
engage in some
of the kind
of language
the president
has used.
But I just think
it is sick, it is
deplorable, and so
un-American, it is so
unpatriotic.
Watching him
this morning while I was
shaving with the TV on,
talking about
he never said
anything like that, he
honored John
McCain, he's
the reason why flags are
flown at half-mast, oh,
wasn't that
noble of him?
He's the same
guy that, when
the ship went
into harbor he
made sure the
USS McCain was
covered, you
couldn't see
it.
He's the same guy that
denigrated John.
He's the
same guy who
did a similar
thing the way he talked
about George
Bush and was
when he was shot
down in the
Pacific.
But he just stands
there.
It's almost
pathological .
"I've never
said anything
like that." ,
"No-one has been
better than
the military."
I just have
to focus on
what has to be
done done, not
what he did,
what I do from
here, what
gets done from here.
>>Thank you, Mr Vice
President.
If I could
follow up on
Ed's question
about voting.
We know the president has
been attacking mill-in
voting, even now
suggesting his
supporters vote twice,
that Russia has
been trying to sow doubt
about the system.
Are you concerned at all
that this messaging may
be working, that your
supporters may
give up on voting by
mail because they're
concerned it may
be rigged?
JOE BIDEN: Yes, I am.
That's why I try not to
talk about it so much,
because I'm playing into
-- the more we talk --
there are two things he
wants us to talk about:
Is the election
legitimate?
And the whole country is
up in flames, everything
is burning, law
and order.
Because he doesn't
want to
talk about anything,
anything at all, about
the
job he hasn't done.
And so
it is a conundrum.
There's a lot we could
talk about in
terms of the
specifics that
Russia is doing or not
doing.
But when you do, at
all does is
undermine what
people think maybe it's
legitimate.
I don't want
people reaching a point
where you can understand
sometimes it's not worth
voting.
It seems to me that
one of the things that I
keep trying to
say to people
is go to I will
vote.com.
Figure out I
will vote.com
and figure out
where you can
vote, how you can vote,
what's available to you,
where you can
vote early,
where you can vote in
person, where
it's going to
be safe for you,
et cetera.
Plan now.
Plan now.
The more Kay
owes that is
sown here, it will
disincline people
to show
up.
Every time I speak
about it, I
feel like I'm
playing his game.
Does it
make sense what
I'm saying?
I think that's
all part of
the deal.
>>Thank you, Mr Vice
President.
Going back to
the jobless report
from this
morning, you had
acknowledged
that less than
half of the 22
million jobs
that were lost
this spring
because of the
pandemic have
been recovered.
What do you
think the 1.4
million added
back in August
says about
just the general
direction
of the economy?
JOE BIDEN: Any job
added back is
positive.
I think it matters
to the people who
got that job back.
Maybe
you all were raised in
households like
I was, where
mom or dad was
losing a job
because of the
economy or
what's going on in your
community, you could
feel the tension,
unease in the
household, how,
everything,
worrying about
whether you
can provide for
your family.
Along the way
also look at
the people who
you've got a
couple million
people out
there, close to, who are
part-time workers,
who still
can't make it, but are
listed as employed.
And a
lot of them also
are in the
process of wondering
whether
or not -- I mean,
there are
a lot of people lined
up in food lines.
They're the people,
many of them, who
have lost their
health care
provided by their
employer.
They're the same
people out
there worrying if this
president is
able to win in
court and wipe out the
entire Affordable
Care Act
and all the hundred
million
people with pre-existing
conditions won't
be able to
get insurance
even if they
had the money.
I mean, it's
just the anxiety is
enormous, is enormous.
Look, again,
I'm not being
solicitous.
Among the
brightest people
I've dealt
with in my whole
career have
been the press,
not a joke.
You all are extremely
well educated, you're
well-read, you
have significant
backgrounds.
And the vast
majority have tried to
report the news,
not just
opinion.
But I can't
believe that
you don't feel
the same -- not Democrat
Republican, OK?
You don't
feel the same anxiety
because you have
a brother,
sister, mother,
father, son
or daughter who's going
through what you're not,
what we're not.
We have jobs.
I don't have a job
now, but you have jobs.
So
it's a real concern.
I just
think that this
has moved
beyond Democrat/Republican.
I think it's
moved to trying
to put this country back
together again so we can
move.
I like to engage.
>>(inaudible) President
Trump has just
announced an
economic normalization
deal
between Serbia
and Kosovo
and part of that deal is
Kosovo and Israel having
diplomatic normalization.
You have stated that you
support a two-state
solution
in the Middle East.
Would
you support more Muslim
majority countries
normal
normalizing
relations with
Israel even
though it may
mean that the
Palestinians
lose leverage
in their fight
towards a two-stage
solution?
JOE BIDEN: First
of all, I don't know
what the deal is you're
referring to.
What I've argued relative
to Serbia and
Kosovo is that
Kosovo should
be an independent
country,
not a part of Serbia.
I've spent a lot
of time there.
So I don't know how -- I
assume that would
reinforce that
independence, but I don't
know, based on what's
being said.
I think
normalization
of relations
among countries
is a, by and
large, a good
thing, to have
a Muslim majority
country
normalizing
relations with
Israel in a
generic sense
seems positive to me.
But I have to know the
detail of what's
happening, what's
going on.
And I don't know
that.
You may be right that
that would cause the
Palestinians to lose
leverage in a
decision on a
two- two-stage solution.
I'd have to look at it.
>>In general, do you
support more countries
recognizing Israel?
JOE BIDEN: Absolutely,
I do.
I do.
And I think that's the
thing, recognizing
Israel as an independent
Jewish state.
I think that's
important.
But also I believe that
Israel has to
be prepared to
work toward a genuine
two-stage solution.
Thank you all very much.
