Biden on Xi: '68 Times, 68 Hours' Alone, Then 'By the Way, I Turned In All My Notes' (June 28, 2023)

President Joe Biden was wrapping up his “Bidenomics” speech in Chicago with a story about Chinese President Xi Jinping when he added a punch line. “I met alone with him, just he and I and a simultaneous interpreter, 68 times — 68 hours — 68 times, more than 68 hours. By the way, I turned in all my notes,” Biden said, to laughter, according to the official White House transcript [1].

The White House press pool took it as a shot at his predecessor. “Closing, he recounts his discussion with Xi Jinping years before he rose to the top position in China, and took another jab at Trump. ‘By the way I turned in all my notes,’” the pooler wrote [2].

The video above shows Biden’s June 28, 2023, speech at the Old Post Office in Chicago. Quotes are from the official White House transcript, the pool reports and the special counsel’s report [1][2][3].

”I Traveled 17,000 Miles With Him”

Biden repeated a story about Xi. “I’ve long said — and I mean this — I was on the Tibetan Plateau with Xi Jinping. I traveled 17,000 miles with him. I’ve spoken with him more than any other head of state,” he said [1].

“It was inappropriate for Barack to spend that time with him, but I — I spent a lot of time with him,” Biden said [1].

“But — and this is the God’s truth — he asked me — we were on the Tibetan Plateau, and he asked me — he said, ‘Can you define America for me?’ I said, ‘Yes, in one word’ — and I meant it — ‘possibilities. Possibilities,’” Biden said [1].

”Awful Hard to Demagogue”

Just before the Xi story, Biden praised his own plan. “It makes it awful hard to demagogue something when it’s working, although they do it all the time,” he said [1].

He promised big paychecks. “These new factories that are opening — these fabs that are opening for semiconductors, without a college degree, you’re going to make $100- to $130,000 a year working in those fabs,” Biden said [1].

The pool summed up the speech. Biden said “Inflation is less than half of what it was a year ago,” credited the Inflation Reduction Act and turned to taxes: “That’s the next phase of this fight. Making the tax code fair,” according to the pool [2].

”Remember Infrastructure Week?”

Biden also mocked “infrastructure week” from the Trump years. “Remember infrastructure week?” he said. “We got infrastructure decade done,” according to the pool [2].

The set was built for the message. “Large blue ‘BIDENOMICS’ signs decorate the stage,” the pool reported, and “Biden is using large TV screens off to the right and left behind the audience, rather than transparent teleprompter screens by the lectern.” [2]

“I Think Dessert’s Coming”

Right after the speech, Biden went to a fundraiser at the JW Marriott hosted by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “The president spoke to about 220 donors crowded into the ballroom,” the pool reported, “each of whom had paid at least $3,300 for a ticket, with those wanting a photo with him donating at least $25,000 to him and the Democratic Party.” [2]

“You want to make millions and billions of dollars? Have at it,” Biden told the donors, according to the pool. “I’m here today to ask you to help me finish the job.” [2]

“As we were being led out, co-pooler Ken Thomas heard Biden announce: ‘I think dessert’s coming,’” the pool reported [2].

By the Numbers

68: times, or hours, Biden said he met alone with Xi [1].
17,000: miles Biden said he traveled with Xi [1].
37 minutes: the length of the speech, per the pool [2].
$3,300: the minimum ticket for that afternoon’s fundraiser [2].
$100,000 to $130,000: the yearly pay Biden promised at chip plants [1].

What Happened Next

The FBI had already taken his notes. Five months before the speech, after an FBI search of Biden’s Wilmington home, his lawyer said the Justice Department “also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years,” Fox News reported [4].

The special counsel found notebooks. In February 2024, Special Counsel Robert Hur reported “evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” Those materials included “notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods,” the report says [3].

“FBI agents recovered these materials from the garage, offices, and basement den in Mr. Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home,” Hur wrote. He concluded that “no criminal charges are warranted,” noting that at trial Biden would likely present himself “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” [3].

Trump’s case was tossed. On July 15, 2024, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the documents case against Trump, ruling that “Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” Fox News reported [5].

For Biden on where the name “Bidenomics” came from, see HYGO News’ page on June 26, 2023.