Biden Garbles Family Saying in Portland, Then Calls Economy 'Strong as Hell' Over Ice Cream (October 15, 2022)

President Joe Biden wrapped up a speech on drug prices in Portland, Oregon, by mangling one of his favorite family sayings. “No, Joey. No, Joey,” he began, then paused for more than two seconds before coming back with “holler. Holler,” and finally the line he meant: “Not just keep the faith, spread it.” Later that day, ice cream cone in hand, he told a reporter the U.S. economy was “strong as hell,” with inflation running above 8%.

The video above shows the end of his remarks at the East Portland Community Center on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, three weeks before the midterm elections. Quotes from the speech are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1], and the pause is plain in the clip. Quotes from the ice cream stop are from Fox News’ account [3].

”No, Joey, Holler”

Biden had just finished attacking Republicans when he raised his voice for the big finish. “Let’s go get ‘em! Every time I’d walk out of my grandpop’s house, he’d say, ‘Joey go out and’—he said—‘spread the faith.’ And my grandma would go: ‘No, Joey. No, Joey, holler. Holler. Not just keep the faith, spread it,’” he said, according to the official transcript [1].

That is not how the story usually goes. Biden has told it for years about his grandfather Ambrose Finnegan’s house in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Here is the version he gave at the National Prayer Breakfast a few months later: “Every time I’d walk out of my Grandfather Finnegan’s house in Scranton, he’d yell, ‘Joey, keep the faith.’ And my grandmother would yell: ‘No, Joey, spread it. Spread it’” [2].

In Portland, the roles got scrambled: the grandfather said “spread the faith,” and the grandmother said “holler.”

The Pitch: Cheaper Drugs, and No Republican Votes

The speech itself was a sales job for the Inflation Reduction Act, the climate, tax and health care law Democrats passed that summer. Biden touted a $35-a-month insulin cap for seniors on Medicare, a $2,000 annual cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket drug costs, and new power for Medicare to negotiate drug prices [1].

“Republicans in Congress—not one single Republican voted for any of this,” Biden said [1]. On that point the record backs him up: the House passed the law 220-207, with all 220 yes votes coming from Democrats and no Republican voting yes [4].

Biden also said seniors were “going to be ahead of inflation next year” and that Medicare premiums were going down [1]. Medicare did announce that the standard Part B premium would fall to $164.90 a month in 2023, a decrease of $5.20 from 2022 [5].

”Strong as Hell”

Biden was in Oregon to help Democrat Tina Kotek, whose race for governor had turned unexpectedly close; Democrats had held the governor’s mansion since the 1980s [3]. At a Baskin-Robbins in Portland, a reporter asked whether he was worried about the strength of the dollar amid rising inflation [3].

“I’m not concerned about the strength of the dollar. I’m concerned about the rest of the world. Our economy is strong as hell,” Biden said, holding a chocolate chip cone. “Inflation is worldwide. It’s worse off than it is in the United States” [3].

He also took a swipe at British Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tax-cut plan, calling it “a mistake” [3].

Two days earlier, the Labor Department had reported that consumer prices were up 8.2% over the previous 12 months [6].

The Deficit Boast

Biden saved his biggest claim for the end of the speech. “Next time you hear the Republicans talk about ‘big-spendin’ Democrats,’ remind them: Biden lowered the Federal deficit last year by $350 billion and by $1 trillion this year. That’s a fact,” he said [1].

Treasury’s official figures, released six days later, showed the fiscal 2022 deficit was $1.375 trillion, $1.4 trillion smaller than the year before [7]. But the drop came “mainly because COVID relief is ending,” according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which said Biden’s own policies had added to deficits rather than cut them [8]. And the national debt kept rising: it stood at about $31.15 trillion on Oct. 14, 2022, up from $27.75 trillion the day Biden took office [9].

Biden made a similar claim three weeks later in Philadelphia, telling a rally he had “literally cut the Federal debt in half.” See that speech here.

Taking Aim at Rick Scott and Ron Johnson

Biden accused Senate Republicans of plotting to end Social Security and Medicare. He pointed to the “Rescue America” plan from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., then chairman of the Senate GOP campaign arm, reading its line, “All Federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If the law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it” [1]. He also went after Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.: “He wants every single year that Congress will have to affirmatively vote back into law—back into law these programs or they go away” [1].

Johnson had said on a Wisconsin radio show that August that Congress should “turn everything into discretionary spending, so it’s all evaluated, so that we can fix problems or fix programs that are broken, that are going to be going bankrupt” [10].

Scott, fed up with the attacks, amended his plan in February 2023 to add “specific exceptions for Social Security, Medicare, national security, veterans’ benefits, and other essential services,” Fox News reported [11]. The original language had read, “All federal legislation sunsets in 5 years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again” [12].

By the Numbers

8.2%: the 12-month rise in consumer prices reported Oct. 13, 2022 [6].
$1.375 trillion: the fiscal 2022 deficit, down $1.4 trillion from fiscal 2021 [7].
$31.15 trillion: total public debt on Oct. 14, 2022, the day before the speech [9].
220-0: the Democratic vote for the Inflation Reduction Act in the House; Republicans voted no [4].
55 and $40.5 billion: the number of big corporations that paid no federal income tax on 2020 profits, and those profits, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy [13]. Biden told the Portland crowd it was “54, I think it was” and said the profits were made “in 2022” [1].

What Happened Next

Oregon stayed blue, barely. Kotek held off Republican Christine Drazan in a surprisingly close governor’s race, with independent Betsy Johnson, a former Democrat, taking more than 8% of the vote [14].

Republicans won a key House race. In Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer beat Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner, 178,813 votes to 171,514 [15]. President Trump later picked her as labor secretary, and the Senate confirmed her 67-32 on March 10, 2025 [16].

Medicare’s negotiated prices arrived. The first 10 drugs with prices negotiated under the 2022 law got new prices starting Jan. 1, 2026, at discounts of 38% to 79% off list prices, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [17].

Some of the tax credits Biden sold are gone. Biden promised tax credits for energy-efficient appliances and home upgrades [1]. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed on July 4, 2025, ended the energy-efficient home improvement credit for property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2025, and ended the new clean vehicle credit for vehicles bought after Sept. 30, 2025, according to the IRS [18].