Biden gives a speech before taking questions at his news conference: "I often see empty shelves being shown on television. 89 percent are full. Which is only a few points below what it was before the pandemic."
Biden: "Look, I'm a capitalist. But capitalism without competition is not capitalism. It is exploitation."
Biden begins by taking a question from Zeke Miller framed around how bad things are right now.
"Why are you such an optimist?" Biden replies, sarcastically.
"Think about this. What are Republicans for? Name me one thing they're for." — Biden
In response to a question about if he needs to scale down his legislative ambitions, Biden points out that polling indicates the American people are largely behind his priorities
Biden calls malarkey on an ABC reporter
In response to a question about Covid and schools, Biden points out that the media obsesses over schools that are closed while overlooking that over 95 percent of them are still open
"My guess is he will move in" — Biden indicates he's expecting Putin's Russia to re-invade Ukraine
"It's clear to me that we're gonna have to probably break it up" — Biden on Build Back Better
Biden sounds surprised at himself as he says these words
"The fundamental question is, what's Mitch [McConnell] for? What's he for on immigration? What's he proposing? … what are they for? Everything is a choice" — Biden, who adds that Republicans are afraid of losing a primary if they behave in a constructive manner
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President Biden: “I did not anticipate that there would be such a stalwart effort to make sure that the most important thing was that President Biden didn’t get anything done.”
https://t.co/QtCUS0DQg5
Originally tweeted by Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) on January 19, 2022.
Kristin Welker asks Biden if VP Harris will be his running mate again in 2024
Kristen Welker asks Biden "What do you say to those who were offended by your [voting rights] speech?"
Biden on what he'll do differently in year two: "I'm going to get out of this place more often. I'm going to go out and talk to the public."
Biden calls on Peter Doocy. Doocy asks him why he's trying to pull the country so far to the left. Biden lets out a little chuckle.
Yikes. I'm not sure who this reporter is but Biden really wasn't having his question.
we just got our first Hunter Biden question
"I've had their back, and I've had their back my entire career. I've never not had their backs" — Biden responds to Kristen Welker's question suggesting he's failing Black voters (reposting this because of typo)
a Newsmax staffer asks Biden about his mental fitness.
Biden says Russia re-invading Ukraine would be "the most consequential thing that's happened in the world, in terms of war and peace, since World War 2"
"You said you were surprised by Republican obstruction of your agenda. But didn't the GOP take exactly the same tactic when you were VP to Barack Obama? So why did you think they would treat you any differently?" — good question here from @alexnazaryan
"I've never seen a time when the choice of what political coverage the voter looks to has as much impact on what they believe. They go to get reinforced in their views, whether it's MSNBC or Fox … everybody has put themselves in certain alleys" — Biden on political media
In response to a question from Steven Portnoy about why he isn't firing people, Biden says that to the extent public health messaging from his administration has been confusing, it's "because the scientists are learning more … this was a brand new virus."
Originally tweeted by Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) on January 19, 2022.