President Joe Biden addresses the concern American voters have about his age, shares what his agenda for the 2024 election is and discusses the dangers Donald Trump poses to democracy.
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President Joe Biden Addresses Concerns Over His Age and Shares His 2024 Agenda - Late Night with Seth Meyers
https://youtu.be/fxuN3i84FNY
Late Night with Seth Meyers
http://www.youtube.com/user/latenightseth
-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here
with President Joe Biden. Um, you mentioned
some classified materials, some documents
recently leaked -- some classified documents. And this isn't a gotcha show,
but I do want to ask about it. It says you are currently
81 years old. -Who the hell told you that?
-Yeah. -That's classified.
-That's classified. All jokes aside,
according to recent polling, this is a real concern
for American voters. How do you address
that concern, going forward, as you come
up
to the 2024 election? -Well, a couple things.
Number one, you got to take a look at the other guy.
He's about as old as I am, but he can't even remember
his wife's name. -Yeah.
-And, uh... [ Laughter and applause ] Number one.
Number two, [Chuckles] it's about how
old your ideas are. Look, I mean, this is a guy
who wants to take us back. He wants to take us back
on Roe v Wade. He wants to take us back
on a whole range of issues that are, 50, 60 years, they've been solid
American positions. A
nd I really
mean this sincerely. The -- I think it's
about the future and everything --
every single thing we've done, I think we've gotten
some good things done. Everything -- And they told us
we couldn't get them done, because things were so divided. And -- But I think everything --
everything we've gotten done, he's just frontally stated he wants to do away with
if he gets elected. And I really think his views
on where to take America are older than...
Anyway... I don't want to get called.
[
Laughter ] -You talked about bipartisanship
and that you could actually work across the aisle
when you ran in 2020. I was one of the people
who thought that was maybe
a foolish proposition. But you have gotten things done.
Um, infrastructure, CHIPS, Inflation Reduction Act,
some gun safety. You even got an immigration bill
that passed in the Senate but never got taken up
in the House. -It will be.
-And what do you want to do? What's your 2024 agenda? Because I feel like we live
in such crazy tim
es that that is one of the things
I feel we hear less about. -Look, the 2020 agenda
is to finish the job. For example,
we're now in a position where we have
the strongest economy of any major nation
in the world. Number one.
We've got a way to go yet. Inflation is down.
880,000 manufacturing jobs. You know, we have
14 million new jobs. The unemployment rate
is the lowest it's been for the longest time. We're building wealth
for people. But it really --
we have to do more. First thing I have to d
o is stop
it from being turned around. For example, you talked
about the border didn't pass. Well, guess what?
We're going to pass that border. It's overwhelmingly,
overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and Democrats
in the House and Senate. But because -- I don't know
this for a fact, but I was told that -- Trump
was picking up the phone, calling the Speaker
of the House, saying, "Don't let it pass."
Why? Not because
he doesn't think it's good. Because it will benefit Biden. That's no way to
run a country.
That's no way to deal. We didn't -- Even when we had
real divisions, back when I was a young senator,
among Democrats and Republicans, that wasn't the way it worked. And look, I think --
Let me put it -- This is not your father's
Republican Party. -Yeah.
-They got about 30% of the Republican Party
controlling it all. And I think
we're going to break it. -One of the things about, "This is not your father's
Republican Party," it must be, for somebody
who's been doing this as long as
you have, you can't get aid
for Ukraine passed. And it seemed like,
for a long time, the American people agreed
that Russia was a threat. And all of a sudden,
now you see a Republican Party that is basically refusing
to aid Ukraine in their fight against -- Seems like Donald Trump
is saying Russia can do whatever they want
to NATO countries. Are you shocked?
-Not "seems like." That's what he is saying.
He's been saying it all along. He's been saying it
when he ran the last time. Look, the idea
that any
American -- Think about this. If I told you all
there was going to be an American president
who said to Putin -- Putin -- "Come do whatever you want
and to NATO if they don't --
if the other guys on our team don't pay up every single cent
they promise to pay for" -- I mean, what are we
talking about here? What in God's name -- How --
The idea that the president of the United States
is inviting Vladimir Putin to invade Eastern --
Western countries is bizarre --
absolutely bizarre -- and
it's totally
against our interest. And by the way, I've known every major foreign
leader for the longest time, and I know all of these guys
extremely well. They're scared to death
what it means for them -- for them -- what it means
if we walk away. Madeleine Albright was right --
the former secretary of state. She said, "We are
the essential nation." We are the essential nation. We don't have people
fighting in those areas, but we're providing
the wherewithal for them to be able
to protect thems
elves. And it's just outrageous
what he's talking about. -He talked about how he wants
to be a dictator on day one,
but only day one. You are someone who has dealt
with dictators over the years. It does seem
as though democracy, in vague terms, somehow
is not easy for us to grasp. Having dealt with dictators,
what do you see in a world where democracy
is actually at risk in a way
it might be in this election? -The first thing
they do -- dictators do -- is they disregard
whatever the rule of law
is. They just disregard it. Here's the guy
who says he wants to -- he thinks he can change
the Constitution and ignore it. Just ignore portions
of the Constitution. Here's the guy who talks
about retribution. Here's the guy --
Look, you have the guys, the thousands of people
who stormed the Capitol -- stormed the Capitol. They're insurrectionists.
Two cops died. Other people were badly hurt.
And what did he say? They got convicted
and/or they pled guilty. And he said they're patriots?
God, patri
ots? And he says he's going
to forgive them all? He's going to --
You're going to -- Every one of them
is going to be released? What is -- I mean, that --
that's what happens in Eastern European countries. That's not what happens
in America. We're -- And the idea
that he thinks he can do that, the idea he talks
about things like, for example, the idea that he said
the Congress wants to pass an overwhelmingly --
a border provision that would allow us
to control the border. First bill I ever intro
duced
called for that. And here they're saying --
he's saying, "No, don't do that because that'll help Biden." Help Biden?
It's about -- not about Biden. It's about the
United States of America. And look, it just --
I don't want to get started. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] I really don't.
-Yeah, I get it, I get it. -Our democracy is at stake.
It literally is. -I want to ask about
the situation right now in the Middle East.
You have forcefully spoken about the horrible events
of October 7
th, and how Hamas
is a continuing threat to the safety of the people
who live in Israel. You've been negotiating --
trying to negotiate -- the release of the hostages.
At the same time, you've said that the response in Gaza
is too much, and that the loss
of an innocent life in Gaza is just as horrible as the loss
of an innocent life in Israel. And yet there have been calls
for an immediate cease-fire. You have not
supported those calls. Again, you seem like
an optimistic person. You believe mayb
e there's a
future for a two-state solution. But from where I'm sitting,
it does seem like there doesn't seem to be
any appetite for that right now. Do you see -- What is -- Because again, we see
this horrible -- Every day, we see this horrible images
out of Gaza. And is there a path forward? Is there a safe future
for the people who live there? -There is a path forward,
with difficulty. But here's the path forward.
Look, first of all, there are -- the hostages
being held must be released. And w
e've got -- at least,
in principle -- an agreement there will be a cease-fire
while that takes place. Ramadan is coming up,
and there's been an agreement by the Israelis that they would
not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time
to get all the hostages out. That gives us time
to begin to move in directions that a lot of Arab countries
are prepared to move in. For example, Saudi Arabia
is ready to recognize Israel. Jordan is, Egypt. There are six other states.
I've
been working with Qatar. And the bottom line
is that I'm not -- I think the only way Israel
ultimately survives -- and I make no bones about it -- I get criticized for having said
a long time ago, you need not be a Jew
to be a Zionist. I'm a Zionist.
Were there no Israel, there's not a Jew
in the world will be safe. But here's the deal. They also have to make --
take advantage of an opportunity
to have peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians
who are being used as pawns by -- by the --
by Hamas. And so there's
a process under way that I think if we get that --
that temporary cease-fire, we're going to be able
to move in a direction where we can change the dynamic and not have a two-state
solution immediately, but a process to get
to a two-state solution, a process to
guarantee Israel's security and the independence
of the Palestinians, but without them being able to,
for example, invite in the -- you know, another country
to provide their defenses. There's ways to do this. And
I don't have time
to go into it now, but -- and in the meantime, there are too many innocent
people that are being killed. And Israel has slowed down
the attacks in Rafah. They have to -- And they've
made a commitment to me. They're going to see to it
that there's ability to evacuate significant portions
of Rafah before they go and take out
the remainder of Hamas. But it's a process.
And look, Israel has had
the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations.
If it keeps this up without -
- this incredibly
conservative government, they have, and Ben-Gvir
and others -- most -- I've known every major
foreign policy leader in Israel since Golda Meir -- they're going to lose support
from around the world, and that is not
in Israel's interest. -Well, I wish you
the best of luck with that, because they are
really horrifying scenes, and I'm happy to hear you agree
with that, as well. I do want to close
by thanking you for something. When you were here in 2014,
you gave me two gifts. Fir
st, you gave me
an Amtrak whistle, and... [ Laughter ]
[ Whistle blows ] And, uh, it was 10 years ago.
I didn't have kids yet. And I have kids now,
and it's their favorite thing. And they blow it all the time,
and it's really irritating. So I want to give it back.
[ Laughter ] [ Applause ] And... -I'm not going to take it back.
[ Laughter ] -It's covered with germs.
-We're gonna give it to your kids.
-[ Laughing ] Yeah. Also, you gave me this --
this conductor's hat. And this meant the world to
me
because, um, when I put it on, I realized that you didn't
just buy this at a store. You obviously
went out of your way. You got my hat size, because when I put it on,
it was such a perfect fit. And...
[ Laughter ] -Let's get moving.
[ Laughter ] -Let's get moving.
Um, I really want to thank you so much for being here,
Mr. President. It means the world to celebrate
the anniversary with you. That's President Joe Biden,
everybody. We'll be right back
with more "Late Night."
Comments
Gosh! Orale Seth! Way to go! Nice to hear Mr. President Biden talk like a normal person! Instead of rambling and talking over people, like agent Orange does- GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Thank you, Seth, once again for making this great interview with Joe happen. These are issues on many Democrats minds, and it was wonderful to hear Joe's responses. You are great at this! Take care!
🎉🎉Awesome interview with our President Joe Biden!!🙌🏼💙💙 Happy 10th Anniversary, Seth and team!!
It's refreshing for this Canadian to hear an American president that isn't talking about windmills, legal troubles, and himself.
I found a pair of those iconic glasses in the lost and found at work, been around for so long theyre mine now lol
It was a pleasure to listen to Biden speak and it made me wish that he would do something akin to FDR‘s “fireside chats, where he spoke from the heart, and he spoke on a regular basis. The reason why people feel that they can make fun of him is that he does not speak in his own voice nearly enough. His thoughtfulness, his intelligence, and his vast knowledge would go a long way to reassure people that his age is just a number.
Biden is saying, that if you take the monsters teeth. They aren't a monster anymore. It is time to make peace.
I should be so articulate and effective at 80!
Thank you Seth and NBC for hosting Pres. Biden!!
What I miss? I'm glad my hearing is still good.
I want to see our President on every late night talk show shouting all of this from the rooftops.
Seth babbled for so long before asking Biden his question that I was wondering if he actually followed along with all of that and sure enough he did and stayed focused and on topic and answered appropriately and professionally too. That’s why Biden gets my vote. He’s COMPETENT. Trump would have failed that competency exam for sure. He’s stuffed with fluff in the noggin.
I hope I'm this clear thinking when I'm 81.
Great interview Joe 👏🏽👏🏽
Ahhhhhhhhh now the suit makes sense!!😂. But seriously this was so refreshing. It was wonderful to see Biden get to show that he really knows his stuff as opposed to seeing snips of curated slip-ups.
Great show! You know you're doing more than well when the President comes on your show!
A normal, fun, opinionated and pleasantly sincere interview. I love it.
Jokes.. Good clean fun. And Clear as Crystal.
Thank You🙏Seth, Amazing Interview🎉I love You, Mr.President Biden❤️🔥
thanks!