Joseph Biden
ON THE RECORD · 18 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“relieved he didn’t have to run against me.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden writes that Trump called his record on job creation extraordinary and seemed relieved he didn't have to run against him.
“seemed unable to tolerate the idea that someone else’s accomplishments might be worth building on rather than tearing down.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden says Trump seemed unable to tolerate the idea that someone else's accomplishments might be worth building on.
“What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
In his new memoir, Biden claims Trump was desperate to hang on to power after losing the 2020 election.
“utterly discredited claim that he had defeated me in 2020.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden says Trump's lies have kept coming since taking office, starting with the claim that he defeated Biden in 2020.
“As if we were sharing gossip about people at a dinner party, not discussing issues of global significance,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden describes Trump focusing on personalities of world leaders rather than substantive policy issues during their meeting.
“It was also going to be a government that stoked racial tensions instead of calming them,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden adds that the new government would stoke racial tensions instead of calming them.
“too stunned to respond”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden says he was too stunned to respond to Trump's friendly remarks during their Oval Office meeting.
“And they gained momentum as Trump took a wrecking ball to our traditions and institutions—at times literally, as when he tore down the East Wing of the White House (after promising that he would not),”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden writes that Trump took a wrecking ball to traditions and institutions, including tearing down the East Wing of the White House.
“Trump announced these policies at a rally as, at a five-star hotel across from the White House, oil and gas executives sipped champagne and nibbled on Pop-Tarts emblazoned with his image,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden criticizes Trump's energy policies, including withdrawing from the Paris climate accords and opening public lands to drilling.
“Trump was immediately chatty and surprised me by adopting a tone so friendly that I thought he might be putting me on,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden describes being surprised by how warmly Trump greeted him eight days after the 2024 election in the Oval Office.
“that feeling was magnified by the dismissive and destructive nature of Donald Trump.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden argues that the vulnerability of presidential policies was magnified by Trump's dismissive and destructive nature.
“There was no precedent for that ruling,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden discusses the 2024 Supreme Court decision ruling that presidents have some immunity from prosecution for official acts.
“no exception to that rule.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden warns that the U.S. is no exception to the rule that no nation can survive character-free leadership for long.
“Common sense didn’t support it. There was no constitutional basis for it. It was inexplicable. Indefensible. And a death knell for accountability.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden calls the Supreme Court immunity ruling inexplicable, indefensible, and a death knell for accountability.
“as if intoxicated by the curious conversational path he had chosen.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden describes Trump continuing to speak as if intoxicated by the conversational path he had chosen.
“The new administration would launch a campaign to end the birthright-citizenship protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, a proud legacy of the Civil War. ICE officers would comb American cities, using expanded police powers to round up brown and Black people and detain them far from the courts and local police. We would be a less tolerant society, with raging conspiracy theories actively promoted by the White House and Trump’s constant and increasingly unhinged social-media feed.”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden warns of the new administration's campaign to end birthright citizenship, expanded ICE powers, and promotion of conspiracy theories.
“It was clearly going to be a crueler government,”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden criticizes Trump's second-term policies including DOGE cuts, withdrawal from the WHO, and cutting federal funding to Democratic states.
“no nation can survive character-free leadership for long”
Joseph Biden · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-09
Biden warns that no nation can survive character-free leadership for long and that the U.S. is no exception.