Introducing himself as “Jill Biden’s husband,” President Joe Biden was greeted with loud applause and occasional boisterous cries of “Four more years!” during his speech at the Democratic National Committee’s winter convention in Philadelphia on Feb. 3.
Biden’s address at the Sheraton Hotel included mentions of legislation he has signed into law in the first two years of his term and the January jobs report that was released earlier in the day. He also chastised “extreme” Republicans and indicated that the party is still too loyal to former President Donald Trump and the Make America Great (MAGA) platform.
“America is back, and we’re leading the world again,” Biden said.
Since the calendar turned to 2023, Biden has toured the country touting projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and boasting about a reduction in the inflation rate, lower unemployment figures, and what he deems encouraging news about the economy, including the January jobs report.
“You know, as of this month, we’ve created 12 million new jobs,” Biden said. “We created more new jobs in two years than any President did in their entire term.”
Biden continued by referencing “3.4 percent unemployment, the lowest in 54 years.”
“The last time unemployment was this low was in 1969,” he said. “What’s more, Black and Hispanic unemployment is near record lows.”
Earlier on Feb. 3, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited a water treatment facility in Philadelphia as the pair announced $500 million in federal support to upgrade aging lead pipes and improve the city’s water system.
The money is part of the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed into law last November. In Philadelphia, $160 million will be used to replace 19 miles of lead pipes and enhance water treatment plants.
Biden called the infrastructure law “the biggest investment in American infrastructure” since the interstate highway system was created under President Dwight Eisenhower’s administration.
“How the hell can you be the most successful, powerful nation in the world and have third-rate infrastructure?” Biden said. “How can you grow a nation without having the finest infrastructure in the world? How can you attract business and commerce and keep things moving?”
Biden’s speech continued with mentions of capping insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare, appointing “the first black woman on the Supreme Court” (Kentanji Brown Jackson), and providing opportunities for “more appellate court judges who are black women than every other president combined.”
He also discussed implementing “the most significant gun control passed in 30 years” and “the biggest investment in tackling the climate crisis in the history of not only this country, but the history of the world.”
“We’re just getting started,” Biden said. “I don’t think many of you believed when I told you we were going get a lot done after the first year. I don’t think some of you really believed that we were going to do as well as we did in the off-year election.
“We got a lot more to do,” he added. “Unlike Republicans, we cut the deficit $1.7 trillion in two years. You know how we did it? We said, ‘You know, the super-wealthy maybe should pay a little bit.’
“And it ain’t even close yet. I intend to get more done,” Biden said. “So let me ask you a simple question: Are you with me?”
The comment evoked more cries of “Four more years!”
Biden listed three reasons why he ran for president.
“The first was to restore the soul of the nation. Honesty, decency, dignity, rooting out racism, treating everyone with respect, giving hate no safe harbor.
“The second reason I said I was running, you remember, is that I said I was going to rebuild the backbone of the nation, the middle class. No more trickle-down economics.
“And the third reason—which turned out many thought was impossible, and, I must tell you, I was wondering for a little bit there—was to unite the country. We are a democracy. You cannot govern without consensus. It’s not possible.,” he added. “This is still the hardest thing to get done. But I refuse to give up. We can’t give up. We need to come together as a nation.”
Biden has yet to announce whether he will seek a second term in 2024. He is facing an investigation from a special counsel about his handling of classified documents and a stand-off with House Republicans over the debt ceiling.
“The last time we were at a place like this was at the end of World War Two,” Biden said. “We set up a new way in which to govern the world and govern ourselves, but that era is over.
“What happens [sic] the last four or five years and what will happen the next three or four years are going to determine what this country looks like for the next four or five decades,” Biden continued. “We’re laying down a foundation, because the world is changing—dramatically changing. And we have a choice.”
Trump is the only Republican who has entered the 2024 presidential race. Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, will announce her intention to run on Feb. 15, the Des Moines Register reported earlier in the week, citing a “source familiar with her planning.”
Before introducing Biden at the winter convention, Harris also talked about Trump and the MAGA platform.
“There are those who want to stand in the way of our momentum,” Harris said. “The extremist, so-called leaders, who want to distract and divide our nation as they ban books, as they reject the history of America, as they criminalize doctors and nurses and the sacred right to vote.”
Leading to last November’s midterms, Biden frequently called Trump and his supporters “extreme MAGA Republicans” who are “a threat to democracy” leading to last November’s midterms. He continued to bash the former president and the MAGA movement on Feb. 3.
“People looked at me like I was nuts,” Biden said. “They’re nuts. I’m not nuts.”
