Biden Bits: “But I Love my Country More”…

July 25, 2024 12:09 pm EDT Tiff Biden Tweets (Open Thread) Comments Off on Biden Bits: “But I Love my Country More”…
Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Thursday…

President Biden’s public schedule for 07/25/2024:

10:00 AM
Official Schedule		The President receives the President’s Daily Brief
The White House
Closed Press
1:00 PM
Official Schedule		The President hosts a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
Oval Office
In-House Pool Spray
1:30 PM
Press Briefing		Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:30 PM
Official Schedule		The President and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel meet with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas
Cabinet Room Closed Press

Background Press Call Previewing the Bilateral Engagement Between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:

 Hey.  Thanks, everybody.  I’ll keep this pretty topline, and we’ll have more to say, obviously, tomorrow.

So tomorrow, of course, the President will welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu and his delegation here to the White House.  We will discuss, obviously, developments throughout the Middle East. 

The President will discuss his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, the very serious threats from Iran and from Iranian proxy and terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis. 

We will talk about our ongoing efforts to ensure the defense of Israel, including through broader integration in the region as we saw play out in April with that unprecedented attack from Iran.

We’ll also talk, I’m sure in depth, about developments in Gaza and the negotiations on the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which we believe is in the closing stages and it’s reaching a point that we believe a deal is closable and it’s time to move to close that agreement.

We will discuss the humanitarian situation — Lebanon, West Bank — everything that the President and the Prime Minister often discuss when they have their many phone calls. 

And, of course, it’ll be the first time they saw each other since the President’s historic trip to Israel shortly after the October 7 attacks — the first visit to Israel by a president in wartime.

After the meeting — the meeting tomorrow will be about 1 o’clock.  And afterwards, the President and the Prime Minister will meet together with the families of Americans.  These are Americans held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.  And, of course, as you know, we meet regularly with this group of families, an extraordinary group of families, including we just met here yesterday with Jake Sullivan to discuss the state of things and our efforts to get their loved ones home.

This will be the President’s second in-person meeting with this particular group, although he’s met with other families, of course, throughout this just horrific ordeal, which has gone on since October 7.

Of course, the Vice President will have a meeting later in the afternoon, here at the White House.

So we’ll have the Israelis and their delegation here at the White House for a period of hours, and I think we have a lot of substantive issues to discuss.  We’ve done a lot of prep work, both here internally and together with the Israelis.  And we hope to have a very substantive, very detailed discussion on the sets of issues that I laid out in front.

This, of course, follows on the Strategic Consultative Group meeting we had here a couple weeks ago and just our ongoing, regular communication dialogue with Israelis at multiple levels across out interagency.

So that is what’s on tap for tomorrow, and I’m happy to answer any questions.

Background Press Call Previewing the Bilateral Engagement Between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu. 07/24/2024.

The Senior Administration Official says in response to a question that the Vice President’s meeting with PM Netanyahu should happen around 4:30 PM D.C., time.

I omitted the Q&A.

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre @1:30 PM D.C., time:


For today and maybe today only, I will be including @JoeBiden’s tweets too…

President Biden’s National Address Tweets

From Wednesday…

It’s 8 AM my time and I’m very disappointed in the White House for not having his remarks transcript posted; the YouTube is 11 minutes and 3 seconds long. I found a transcript posted by ABC News…

My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington, who showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.

[snip]

It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come.

America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause cherish it so much, a cause of American democracy itself must unite to protect it.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

Show more =’s I will keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, and our planet from the climate crisis.

The video clip 1 minute and 50 seconds long.

Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president. That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families, grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism, make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis, is the existential threat.

And I will keep fighting for my for my cancer moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy, Supreme Court reform. You know, I will keep working to ensure America remains strong and secure and the leader of the free world.

I’m the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world. We’ll keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing more damage. We’ll keep NATO stronger, and I’ll make it more powerful and more united than at any time in all of our history. I’ll keep doing the same for allies in the Pacific.

You know, when I came to office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably surpass the United States. That’s not the case anymore. And I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war.

We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world. You know, we’ve come so far since my inauguration. On that day, I told you as I stood in that winter — we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities, peril and possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War, but we came together as Americans, and we got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

You know, in recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.

So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America’s future. I made my choice. I made my views known. I would like to thank our great Vice President Kamala Harris. She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you, the American people.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

The great thing about America is here kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep faith, keep the faith and remember who we are. We’re the United States of America and there’s simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

You know, in recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

I revere this office, but I love my country more.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

My fellow Americans, it’s been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States, but here I am. That’s what’s so special about America.

ABC News. 07/24/2024.

From Thursday…

Before his address.

After his address.

I lost the tweet that showed a video of the Rose Garden event held after his address. sigh.

This is an open thread

About the opinions in this article…

Any opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this website or of the other authors/contributors who write for it.

About Tiff 3055 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.