President Biden Interview After State of the Union Address

Mr. President, it is great to see you again. Thank you for doing this.

Good to see you.

So that was one hell of a speech you gave Thursday night. I’m going to touch on three specific areas there. The first one being, I noticed the look of surprise on your face when you walked into the chamber and you saw Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green. It was priceless. You feigned shock at seeing her. But during your response to her heckling of you, you used the word illegal when talking about the man who allegedly killed Blake and Riley.

An undocumented person, and I shouldn’t have used illegal. It is undocumented. And look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was that the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do. I’m not going to treat any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country, the reason our economy’s growing. We have to control the border and more orderly flow, but I don’t share with you at all.

So you regret using that word?

Yes.

What was it like for you to see Republicans not cheer your tough words for Vladimir Putin or for defending democracy or any of the other things Republicans used to stand for?

Well, I think some of them still do stand for it, but they’re pretty much intimidated by Trump right now. I mean, the idea that… Look, I’m talking to you. I’m down here talking to these folks who are starting businesses, getting endorsed by minority businesses. He’s up in Marjorie Taylor Green in North Georgia. Yesterday he spends the time at his mansion, at his resort with Orban. He talks about his great respect for the president of North Korea. I mean, he praises Putin. I mean, he’s in a different world.

Was that a mistake on Trump’s part to host Orban? I mean, he is a member of NATO.

He’s a member of NATO, but he says he doesn’t believe in democracy. I mean, look, the guys I host, the people I’m with are people who in fact in NATO have great respect for one another. But look, when you have a president who, in the midst of the carnage going on as a consequence of Russian attack on Ukraine and talks about, “Come in, Putin. If these guys haven’t paid their dues, just do what you need in NATO.” I mean, he talked about getting out of NATO. I mean, it’s a critical to our national defense. We made a commitment after World War II to never let it happen again. Look what he’s doing. He’s dangerous.

You were caught on a hot mic after your State of the Union address talking to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Senator Michael Bennett saying, “I told him, ‘Bibi,’ and don’t repeat this, but ‘You and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting.'” What do you mean by that?

What I meant was it’s an expression used in the southern part of my state meaning a serious meeting, and I’ve known Bibi for 50 years and he knew what I meant by it.

So what’s the come to Jesus part? What tough love are you going to give to the Prime Minister?

What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as the consequence of the actions taken. He’s hurting, in my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world… It’s contrary to what Israel stands for and I think it’s a big mistake. So I want to see a ceasefire and I’m starting with a major, major exchange of prisoners for a six-week period. We’re going into Ramadan. It should be nothing happening and we should build off of that ceasefire.

(03:52)
And look, I’ve spoken with the majority of the Arab leaders from Saudi Arabia to Egypt to Jordan. They’re all prepared to fully recognize Israel and begin to rebuild the region, and that’s the focus. What comes after Gaza? What’s next? It’s a tough decision, but there’s a lot that can be done.

On the ceasefire, will one, I mean, it is Saturday, the holy month of Ramadan starts on Monday. Is it possible that a ceasefire deal could be reached in time for Ramadan to start?

I have a CIA director in that region right this minute still talking about it. I think it’s always possible. I never give up on that.

What is your red line with Prime Minister Netanyahu? Do you have a red line? For instance, would invasion of Rafah, would you have urged him not to do? Would that be a red line?

It is a red line, but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the iron dome to protect them. They don’t have… But there’s red lines that if he crosses and to… Cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after… There’s other ways to deal, to get to, to deal with the trauma caused by Hamas.

(05:15)
Well, look, the first time I went over, I sat with him and I sat with a war captain. I said, “Look, don’t make the mistake America made. America made a mistake. We went after Bin Laden until we got him, but we shouldn’t have gone into the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t necessary and it just caused more problems than it erased, than it cured.

Who actually wants a deal? Do you think Hamas actually wants a ceasefire?

Well, I think Hamas would like a total ceasefire across the board because then they would see they have a better chance to survive and maybe rebuild. But that’s not what I think the vast majority of people think you have to… Look, after what happened in World War II and the carpet bombing that took place, what happened was we ended up in a situation where we changed the rules of the game, of constitutionally legitimate rules of war and they should be abided by.

Some have suggested you should go back to Israel and address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Is that something you would do?

Yes.

Would that have to be at the invitation of the Prime Minister or could that be at the invitation of the President?

I’d rather not discuss it more.

Does that mean that that has been discussed, the possibility of going back to Israel and addressing Knesset.

Doesn’t mean anything.

Okay. Let’s talk about the temporary pier that you announced during your State of the Union Address to get supplies into Gaza. It’s going to take 60 days to get that constructed. What more are you doing in the absence of cooperation from Netanyahu and a bill from Congress to get supplies into Gaza, more humanitarian aid into Gaza?

Everything we can. We’re pressuring to open up access to the north from Israel. We’re also doing airdrops. I know several people were killed over the airdrop. There’s a way to avoid that in the future. We’re working with our Arab friends to figure out how much we could get in. Everything, look, it’s a desperate situation. Food, medicine, everything badly needed and it’s needed now.

You’re heading to Michigan where on the campaign trail, probably in the next few days where more than a hundred thousand people voted Uncommitted in the primary to protest your handling of the situation in Gaza. Some have said they will never vote for you. One told Charles Blow of the New York Times, and I’m quoting, “As bad as Mr. Trump’s rhetoric was and him putting a travel ban on five Muslim countries, he wasn’t overseeing and actively arming a genocide.”

(08:13)
Those are tough words. What’s your response to that widely shared sentiment?

It’s not widely shared. You guys make judgments you’re not capable of making. That’s not what all those people said. What they said was they’re very upset and I don’t blame them for being upset. Their family’s there. There are people who are dying. They want something done about it and they’re saying, “Joe, do something. Do something.” But the idea that they all think it’s genocide, that’s a different situation.

(08:42)
Look, I can fully understand, and can’t you? You have a family member there, a family member or families that come from a family that is still isolated there and may be victimized. It’s understandable they feel that way, and that’s why I’m doing everything I can to try to stop it.