Biden: Billionaires Pay 'Eight Percent'; Heckler: 'What Do You Pay, Joe?' (June 17, 2023)

President Joe Biden was on a roll about billionaires at a union rally in Philadelphia on June 17, 2023. “You know what—you know what percentage they pay in taxes? Eight percent. E-i-g-h-t,” he said. Someone in the crowd shot back: “What do you pay, Joe?” [1]

“I pay a hell of a lot more than that, man,” Biden answered, to laughter [1].

The video above shows the exchange from the rally at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where the AFL-CIO endorsed Biden for 2024. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1][4].

”What Do You Pay, Joe?”

Biden set up the line by blaming his predecessor. “We used to have about 750 billionaires in America. Now, they tell me it’s about a thousand, because of the last administration. Well, guess what? You know what—you know what percentage they pay in taxes? Eight percent. E-i-g-h-t,” he said [1].

The official transcript records the heckle word for word: “Audience member. What do you pay, Joe? The President. I pay a hell of a lot more than that, man. [Laughter]” [1]

Biden then turned it on the crowd. “So do you. And by the way, they pay at a lower tax rate than schoolteachers, than firefighters, probably anyone in this room,” he said. “It’s time they paid a minimum tax. I don’t mind them being billionaires. Just pay your fair share, man” [1].

”Pay Your Fair Share”

Taxing the rich was the heart of the speech. Biden went after “some of the hedge fund managers and crypto traders,” promising that “these things are going to change, I promise you, if I have anything to do with it” [1].

He repeated his pledge on the middle class: “I made a promise—and I’ll keep it for next 4 years if I’m elected—that no one making under $400,000 will see a penny of their Federal taxes go up. And they haven’t. I kept that promise, and I will keep it” [1].

And he made it his campaign theme. “So in this time—this campaign, I’m going to go to the country and ask them if they give—if they agree with me, it’s time for everyone to start paying their fair share,” he said. He closed by telling the union members: “I can get that done, but I need you badly. So are you with me?” [1]

What Biden Paid

Two months earlier, the White House had released the Bidens’ 2022 tax return. The president and first lady reported federal adjusted gross income of $579,514 and paid $169,820 in combined federal, Delaware and Virginia income taxes. Their 2022 effective federal income tax rate was 23.8%, the White House said [2].

So the answer to the heckle was in the record: Biden paid nearly three times the rate he cited for billionaires [1][2].

Where “Eight Percent” Came From

The figure traces to a September 2021 White House study by economists at the Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of Management and Budget. It estimated an average federal individual income tax rate of 8.2% for America’s 400 wealthiest families from 2010 to 2018, with other versions of the estimate ranging from 6% to 12% [3].

The study got there with an unusual measure of income. It counted “income from unsold stock,” gains on assets that had not been sold, as income as they built up, which the authors acknowledged is “less common in existing estimates of tax rates” [3]. The study itself called those gains “untaxed” [3].

The Rally

About 2,000 union members turned out, according to an AFL-CIO official quoted in the press pool report. Biden spoke for about 25 minutes, then worked the rope line taking selfies [4]. Earlier that day, he took an aerial tour aboard Marine One to see the collapsed section of Interstate 95, which had burned in a truck fire the week before [4].

Biden boasted about the early endorsements. “And this week, for the first time I’m aware of, the AFL-CIO endorsed this early, and every union as well,” he said [1].

By the Numbers

• 8%: the tax rate Biden said billionaires pay [1].
• 8.2%: the White House study’s estimate for the 400 wealthiest families, counting unsold stock as income [3].
• 23.8%: the Bidens’ 2022 effective federal income tax rate [2].
• $579,514: the Bidens’ 2022 adjusted gross income [2].
• $169,820: the federal, Delaware and Virginia income taxes they paid [2].
• About 2,000: union members at the rally [4].

What Happened Next

The pitch went into his budget. The following March, Biden’s fiscal 2025 budget again claimed billionaires pay “an average income tax rate of just 8 percent on their full incomes” and proposed “a 25 percent minimum tax on the wealthiest 0.01 percent, those with wealth of more than $100 million” [5]. HYGO News covered his first try at that agenda in its page on the late fiscal 2024 budget.

He left the race. On July 21, 2024, Biden announced he would not seek reelection [6], as HYGO News reported in its page on the polls that warned Democrats.

The Trump tax cuts stayed. On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill. “In this act, we have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent,” he said [7].

Sources

1. The American Presidency Project: Remarks at a Campaign Rally With Union Members in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (June 17, 2023)
2. The American Presidency Project: White House Press Release, The President and Vice President Release Their 2022 Tax Returns (April 18, 2023)
3. The White House (archived), Council of Economic Advisers: What Is the Average Federal Individual Income Tax Rate on the Wealthiest Americans? (September 23, 2021)
4. The American Presidency Project: Pool Reports of June 17, 2023
5. The American Presidency Project: Fact Sheet, The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (March 11, 2024)
6. Boston.com (AP): Read the Biden letter stating he will no longer seek reelection (July 21, 2024)
7. The American Presidency Project: Remarks at an Independence Day Celebration With Military Families and Signing Ceremony for Tax Code Reform and Government Appropriations Legislation (July 4, 2025)