🧵 the president today held an off the record briefing with some TV anchors. Following are some ON-th

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21


Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
As is tradition before a meeting to a Joint Session of Congress, the president today held an off the record briefing with some TV anchors. Following are some ON-the-record comments he told us that you may find interesting. 1/

2/ "When I came to office, we had a circumstance that -- we didn’t have much access to information about what the state of play was in the various agencies. We didn’t have -- in other words, there was little transition that took place...

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
3/ "...So there was one thing that I was certain of, as it got worse and worse, is I had to do something about..COVID-19, and get something moving. But I didn’t know how bad off it was going to be...

4/ "... And the second thing was that there wasn’t a whole lot of time to think about larger initiatives that I had talked about through the campaign...because it just became so clear so many people were hurting. I mean really hurting badly -- being evicted from their homes...

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
5/"...and their apartments...And that’s why I focused on the Rescue package. It’s not like I had decided on the specifics for the Rescue package two months earlier. And so, we were able to deliver that $1,400, which made a big difference to 85 percent of the households...

6/"...in the country and began to put food on people’s tables. And I don’t know about you all, but I’ve been around a long time; I never thought I’d see lines a mile long with automobiles waiting to get a box of food and people coming up in -- not jalopies, but in decent cars...

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
7/"...And so -- and the other thing was that: How do you get people back to work as quickly as you can? We were able to provide 1.3 million jobs in the first 100 days, more than any President has ever done in history. But that’s not how we looked at it..."

8/ Biden said it became important to him to demonstrate “We can’t afford to lose out of the box. We cannot afford to lose this first effort. We got to make sure whatever we pick and what we do -- we can’t afford to lose.”

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
9/ Biden said any failure would add to the impression Americans had that nothing could get done.

And he saw this all through a larger prism: "They’re going to write about this point in history... About whether or not democracy can function in the 21st century. Not a joke..
10/ "...Whether autocracy is the answer -- they were my discussions and debates I’d have in the many times I met with Xi," the Chinese president. "Think about it. You know, things are moving so damn rapidly. Things are changing so rapidly in the world in science and technology

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
11/ "...and a whole range of other issues that -- the question is: In a democracy that’s such a genius as ours, can you get consensus in the timeframe that can compete with autocracy?"

Biden said "Xi does not believe we can. That’s what he’s betting on...

12/ Xi, Biden said, is "betting on democracy cannot -- cannot keep up with him." And democracy needs to function, he said. "Because if we go four more years like we had in the last four, I really, honest to God, believe we’re in real jeopardy as a nation."

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
13/ Biden said: "everybody talks about, can I do anything bipartisan? Well, I got to figure out if there's a party do deal with. We need a Republican Party...We need another party, whatever you call it, that’s unified -- not completely splintered and fearful of one another."

14/ He went on: "this government is founded on this notion that -- you know, sounds corny: 'We the People.' And there's nothing we're going to be able to get done unless we can convince the American people it’s possible to do it...

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
15/ "And so that's why I put so much focus on making my case directly to the American people...That's the basis on which I decided to proceed on all the issues...

16/ "First one: ease the pain, save lives, put people in a position where they have reason to believe that they could actually get back and earn a living and provide for their families. That's how I looked at the first 100 days."

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
17/ Then he went off the record. Anyway, thought you might find it interesting. See you at 4pm ET
- jpt

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. So relieved and grateful Biden is president now!!!!

[C_U_L8R]

2. Thank goodness for President Joe Biden.

[Scrivener7]

3. Makes me really really curious about what those "off the record" comments were.

[cilla4progress]

4. Such an American

Hero!!!!

[Beaverhausen]

5. "jalopies" is not a familiar word to many of Tapper's twitter followers

but that word is so Joe.

He really is the perfect person for the job right now.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. I loved that, too. The word deserves a comeback. It's the perfect word for the time.

Just like he's the perfect president for the time. We are all incredibly blessed to have him as our president.

❤

[jaxexpat]

6. The simple, logical thoughts of an honest old man.

I expect that as the world gets along over the next 3-4 years, the old man may surprise us all, in surprising ways.

There may be a loving gosh after all.

[SoonerPride]

7. Great. Thanks

[ancianita]

8. A great tweet look at Joe's care for Americans & their democracy. Thanks for posting.

[Probatim]

9. Just imagine if the other half of Congress had helped.

Imagine if they were decent human beings who were looking out for the country and their fellow man - and not a bunch of shit-weasels holding their collective breath and throwing tantrums.

I don't know how they can look at themselves in the mirror each morning.

[soothsayer]

10. The things we could do! It's very frustrating that they hate ordinary Americans

[ShazzieB]

16. Hate is not the word I would us to describe how the GOP feels about ordinary Americans.

Hate is a passionate emotion. I don't see any passion there. I see complete and utter indifference to the needs, wishes, and desires of ordinary Americans. They just plain don't care.

[soothsayer]

18. Excellent point. Indifference to actual people trying to live

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. Seriously

Maybe for a brief moment after Jan 6th there was a glimmer of hope. When we saw Mitch, and Graham, and McCarthy, all seem to criticize their Dear Leader and start to distance themselves from him.

But almost the next day, Graham goes golfing with the orange turd, McCarthy travels to Mara lago to visit him. And Mitch goes back from a firey speech on the floor of the Senate to admitting he'd vote for Trump again if given the chance.

Now they are trying to rewrite and smooth out history. Taking that route.

Instead they could have worked with Democrats and health experts at least to battle this virus. Dumped Trump to do it if they had to, and once the pandemic was all but over, they would have a lot of built up credibility and respect from moderate voters.

THEN they could go back to their good old talking points about tax n spend Democrats etc etc.....Actually propose their own health care plan. Or immigration plan. That route would have made them more viable sooner with moderates.

But they are going down the route that is way more risky.....It could cost them their party if it doesn't work out, but I suppose the payoff would be greater if they did succeed. Not just a guaranteed 4 years in the White House,......but a full Fascist State with them in charge! Maybe they see Trump as their best shot at it to come along in awhile and they don't want to waste the opportunity.

[lindysalsagal]

11. I adore Senator Warren, but only Biden knew how to make the

Government work. Again. He knew first hand how to reignite the economy, and the people who could take action knew him and already believed in him.

I'd like to see her run again, this time, not after a gqp intentionally destroys america.

[NoMoreRepugs]

12. 4 more years of the Velveeta Vulgarian would have put the

Great Experiment in dire peril.

[hedda_foil]

17. I disagree. Four more years would have killed the Great Experiment dead and buried.

[Duppers]

14. K & R

Pres. Joe Biden is such a humble, intelligent, caring man who's been handling this devastating catastrophe while facing internal foes the likes of the country hasn't seen since the Civil War.

And now we're learning that he's more worried about China than we had thought.


It's clear to any intelligent person that if Trump had had 1 more term, our democracy would have ended., one way or another.

And then, all this while, Rethugians just keep flying their flags, listening to their nonsense propaganda, plugging their ears to truth and making major issues out of lies & trivia. They fucking know not they know not. (Just repeating the obvious here.)

[George II]

19. In other words he attacked the issues that were in the worst shape first, and did NOT....

..."ignore" all the other issues, as he's being accused of doing.

When a house is on fire, you don't worry about repainting the walls and replacing the carpet - YOU PUT OUT THE DAMNED FIRE!