House Democrats held a press briefing on Tuesday after President Biden dropped out and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning, I want to start by offering the condolences of the entire House Democratic
00:11Caucus to the family and friends of our beloved Sheila Jackson Lee, our amazing colleague
00:18whose energy and spirit will be deeply missed, particularly in moments like these.
00:26First, the caucus paid tribute to Sheila.
00:29We heard from a number of members and played a video.
00:33And just for all of us, being in these meetings with Sheila and the passion that she brought
00:38to each and every event that she participated in just meant a lot to all of us.
00:44And so we took our time to pay tribute to her.
00:50When we talk about being a statesperson, and when we talk about patriotism in the most
00:58challenging of circumstances, people who show grace and empathy, wisdom, resolve and integrity,
01:05future generations of men and women will remember that Joseph Robinette Biden served as the
01:13beacon of hope throughout the world to ensure that we put patriotism first.
01:21President Biden personifies the governing philosophy that House Democrats have talked
01:28about for so long, putting people over politics.
01:31His decision highlights the reality that everything is on the line this election because of the
01:38threat of Donald Trump and the Trump Project 2025.
01:44The American people watched with horror as Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination
01:49last week and laid a dark vision for America's future.
01:53More tax cuts for the wealthy while working people lose out on Social Security, Medicare
01:59and health insurance.
02:01More bans on abortion and more families torn apart.
02:06The Trump Bans Project 2025 threatens to undermine our democracy and jeopardizes the freedom,
02:11safety and retirement security of working families.
02:15House Democrats are going to fight back against this extremist handbook every step of the way.
02:21Vice Chair Ted Luke.
02:24Thank you, Chairman Aguilar.
02:25And like the chairman said, we all are mourning the loss of Sheila Jackson Lee.
02:30I had the honor of serving with her on the House Judiciary Committee.
02:34We went through two impeachment processes.
02:37And I also had the distinct honor of serving on the Crime Subcommittee last term when she
02:41was chair.
02:42It's very clear to me that every day she came into Congress and fought for justice and equality.
02:48And she gave a voice to those who did not have a voice.
02:51She will be missed.
02:53I'm going to now talk about President Joe Biden, who's going to go down in history as
02:58one of the best presidents America has ever had.
03:02His selfless act this weekend reminds me of what George Washington did when he voluntarily
03:07gave up reelection and put country first.
03:11If you remember, four years ago, the Biden-Harris administration inherited a country that was
03:16crippled by the pandemic, and they turned it around.
03:19The Biden-Harris administration ushered in record job growth, the lowest sustained unemployment
03:25rate in over 50 years, and a stock market that is setting record highs.
03:30If you have an education savings plan or a retirement account, your accounts are higher
03:35now than they were four years ago.
03:37Thank you, Joe Biden.
03:40In contrast, we have Republicans who want to jam down Trump's Project 2025 on the American
03:46people.
03:47It is an extreme takeover of government and of your life by radical Republicans.
03:53They want to ban abortion.
03:55They want to control your education.
03:56They even want to do totally silly things like get rid of the National Weather Service.
04:03So what are we going to have in its place?
04:04Just people guessing what the weather is going to be.
04:06This is a dangerous document.
04:08If you look at a Navigator poll that came out today, about one in 10 Americans now view
04:13Project 2025 favorably.
04:15It's now about as popular as bone spurs, but it's far more dangerous.
04:21It is time for the American people to wake up, read this document, and then vote accordingly
04:26in November.
04:27Questions?
04:28Mr. Magellan.
04:29Max.
04:30On behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to address Congress tomorrow, I know
04:31it's a central question.
04:32Repressive Democrats are not choosing to attend.
04:33I'm curious your message to the caucus on this speech and whether you think it's appropriate
04:34to skip the Netanyahu address.
04:35I think members are going to make their own decisions.
04:53I personally will be there.
04:56The vice chair will be there.
04:57I feel when world leaders come to the people's chamber, it's important that we hear their
05:04perspective.
05:05Israel is our closest ally.
05:09I'm looking forward to the prime minister's address, even if I disagree with some policies
05:15that the government is putting forward.
05:19At times, that's part of our democratic process.
05:22But members are going to make their own decisions, and we've just been encouraging members to
05:29exercise safety and to let them know of the security posture that we're going to face
05:36tomorrow and giving them the guidance that the sergeant at arms has been sending out
05:43as well.
05:45The head of Secret Service just resigned.
05:48Can you speak on the bipartisan efforts to, I guess, have the Secret Service acknowledge
05:53what went wrong there?
05:55I think members on both sides of the aisle were shocked by the events and the assassination
06:02attempt, obviously.
06:04It's important that the Secret Service accept some responsibility.
06:09I know that there is a number of investigations that are continuing, internal and potentially
06:17external from the department itself.
06:20Members on both sides of the aisle called for her resignation, and I think that was
06:25the right decision.
06:27Go ahead.
06:29Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
06:30Jim Banks from Sky News in the UK.
06:33If President Biden isn't fit to be a candidate, why is he fit to continue as president?
06:39President Biden's record of achievements is unparalleled.
06:43The last three and a half years, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, and the Biden administration
06:49were able to accomplish so much to lower the costs that Americans face, to improve our
06:57economy, over 15 million jobs created.
07:01Those are the types of accomplishments that the American people know.
07:05Those are the types of things that President Biden has pledged to continue.
07:10He'll spend the next six months being president, and he will have our support along the way.
07:18We are partners in this progress, and I think history will show that his achievements are
07:25just absolutely unparalleled.
07:27For those of us who have spent time with him, we're going to soak up everything we can.
07:32The knowledge, the experience, the wisdom that he brings to that office, the good judgment,
07:39those are things that public servants of all stripes can learn and emulate, in my opinion.
07:47But are you confident he is fit to be president for the next six months?
07:50You know how you have pro athletes, like a quarterback takes a team that's like four
07:55years ago not doing well, and then now takes them to having a winning victory and says,
08:00you know, I'm going to retire next year.
08:02Doesn't mean that quarterback can't play this year.
08:05And if you look at the record, Joe Biden, as the chairman said, he's done amazing things
08:09for our country.
08:11But you know who is not fit?
08:13Donald Trump.
08:14He's the oldest person running for president ever.
08:17He makes incoherent statements.
08:19He forgets people's names.
08:20He mixes people up.
08:22His cognitive decline is readily apparent.
08:24Donald Trump should pass the torch and withdraw from the race.
08:30You know, I always find it interesting when the vice chair talks about football as a struggling
08:37Browns fan.
08:38I know it's incredibly difficult for him during these hard times.
08:43Thank you, Mr. Chair.
08:44The House Rules Committee is going to meet later on this afternoon to prepare a resolution
08:48on the administration's border policy and condemning Kamala Harris as the, quote, borders
08:57are.
08:58There's also talk of the House Republican leadership bringing a bill to call on Kamala
09:03Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment.
09:05With everything going on, the BB speech, the appropriations process, what's your take on
09:11these measures being under consideration?
09:13My take is Republicans are flailing.
09:16They have no agenda that helps the American public.
09:20That is incredibly clear.
09:22They can't pass appropriations bills.
09:24They're pulling bills off of the floor.
09:27We'll see what happens with the schedule next week.
09:30But the chaos and confusion that has been the hallmark of this Congress is because of
09:39House Republicans.
09:40And so this is just a continuation of those efforts.
09:43They are clearly just failing and flailing and trying to do anything they can to inject
09:49themselves into presidential politics and to carry water for the former president.
09:54That's all this is about is his love and affection.
09:58And they are just stepping over themselves to try to help him.
10:02But let's be very clear that there was no border czar.
10:08Kamala Harris's role was to engage in multilateral discussions with our Latin American countries.
10:18The numbers speak for themselves on where we are with border crossings.
10:24We are in a much better position than we have in the past.
10:29Kamala Harris has been a leader in this administration in so many ways.
10:33And efforts by House Republicans to carry the water of Donald Trump are just laughable
10:40and unserious.
10:42I think it can be both and.
11:03But it's clear that the Latin American countries, the northern trilateral countries, those numbers
11:09have significantly diminished.
11:11That is factual.
11:13There are many countries, many individuals from countries around the globe who find their
11:19way to declare asylum at the southern border.
11:22But the particular percentage among those northern trilateral countries has been diminished.
11:27Those are just the facts.
11:29Vice President Harris will be the Democratic nominee for president.
11:51Whether people put in a press release or not, that is going to happen.
11:57She has locked up the delegates and the support.
11:59We look forward to helping and being a partner in this process with her.
12:04I know the vice chair and I have had conversations with her as a Californian.
12:10There's a lot of pride among us as well.
12:13We look forward to her officially securing the nomination.
12:17And the next 105 days ahead.
12:21Hi there.
12:22On the bipartisan task force announced today on the Secret Service, can you give a timeline
12:27at all about when members will be appointed and when the public should see those recommendations
12:32from you?
12:34I believe that to answer the second part of the question, I believe the resolution or
12:39the document we vote on will talk about a date.
12:42But I'd refer you to that document in the Speaker's office and the Leader's office
12:46as to the timing of the appointments.
12:49Go ahead.
12:51Thank you, Mr. Chair.
12:53The president will address the nation tomorrow in the Oval Office about the path forward.
12:57What do you want to hear from him?
13:00And also, since both of you are members of the California delegation, can you speak specifically
13:05to the role that the Speaker Emerita played in this process, in this transition between
13:13the president and vice president, and whether or not that was a factor in how this all ultimately
13:19played out?
13:21I can't speak to that.
13:23I'm not privy to those conversations.
13:25But I can tell you that as Californians, we have immense pride in the vice president.
13:33Many of us have supported her, if not all of us have supported her candidacy and her
13:40stepping forward.
13:41We look forward to working with her over the next hundred days.
13:46This is going to be a sprint.
13:48What we want to see the president – look, the president's patriotism is unmatched,
13:55as the vice chair mentioned and as I mentioned at the top.
13:59I expect that the president will talk about the work that we have done together, but how
14:04this is unfinished.
14:06We still are working to lower costs than Americans have.
14:10We still have things that we need to accomplish in childcare and in housing, things looking
14:16forward in the next few years.
14:18But within this next six months of the administration, there's a lot of work to do.
14:23And the president is going to do that hard work, and all of us are going to play a role
14:29in that.
14:30We're also going to do some politics outside of this building.
14:33But the work that remains is what's going to focus Joe Biden, and it's going to build
14:40on the legacy that he has put forward over the last three and a half years, and we're
14:46all looking forward to that.
14:48I don't have any knowledge of Speaker Pelosi's talks with the president or his advisers.
14:54On President Biden's address tomorrow, I believe he'll remind America what it was
15:00like four years ago, where there were bread lines, and under the Trump administration,
15:05you had government shutdowns, you had schools that were closed, you had people that were
15:10getting sick, and you had a former president that grossly mishandled the pandemic.
15:15And under Biden's administration, you got shots into people's arms, you had schools
15:20reopening, you have an economy that is now starting to roar again, and I think that's
15:25what President Biden is going to talk about, and also with their work ahead and how we
15:29continue on the progress that the Biden-Harris administration has made these last three and
15:33a half years.
15:34Question?
15:36How long would you say that you've had thoughts that President Biden might not be the best
15:42person to leave your ticket in November?
15:44What was the question?
15:45How long have I?
15:46How long have you had thoughts that he might not be best suited to leave in November at
15:49the top of your ticket?
15:50Look, I think as House Democratic leaders, our job first and foremost was to listen to
15:56our members.
15:57You saw, you folks reported on those members who put out statements, you know, indicating
16:03their thoughts.
16:04Our job was to have a number of conversations with those individuals who expressed their
16:10opinions publicly and those who expressed their opinions privately, and to convey that
16:16to the leader and to members of the administration's team.
16:21The focus and objective of every single member that we talked to, though, was the same.
16:27We have to stop Donald Trump.
16:29We have to stop this Trump Project 2025.
16:32We need to ensure that they don't carry forward a national abortion ban, that they don't end
16:38contraception care, that they don't repeal the Affordable Care Act.
16:43Those are the things that kept Democrats together, but we did our jobs as Democratic
16:50leaders to convey those, the thoughts, the feelings of our colleagues to the leadership
16:57team as well as to the White House.
17:00Last question.
17:01California could determine who controls the House next Congress.
17:05How do you think Vice President Harris impacts down ballot races, and also how do you feel
17:09about Secretary Johnson criticizing the Vice President for not attending the Netanyahu
17:14address?
17:15The Vice President's going to be having a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister.
17:20I think that sends the message that Israel is an ally and that she is giving him an audience,
17:29and I think that that's completely appropriate.
17:32California will play a significant role in this political year.
17:36The Vice Chair and I have said that for the last year and a half.
17:39I think having the Vice President at the top of the ticket will be incredibly helpful.
17:45We know her.
17:46We know her track record.
17:47We know her as our United States Senator.
17:49We know her as our Attorney General.
17:52We know the tough-minded prosecutor that she is, that she's going to prosecute the case
17:57against Donald Trump, and she's going to remind Californians what's at stake.
18:03Donald Trump's favorability rating is pretty low in California, and I think that the Vice
18:09President's going to remind people exactly the threat that he poses, and I think that
18:14there's going to be some energy and enthusiasm that will get our candidates across the finish
18:18line.
18:19Thank you so much.