Biden to Union Workers: “Ten Years Ago, How Many Knew What the Hell the Supply Chain Was?” — Goes on Rambling Tangent About Stealing Michigan Uniforms

On 11/29/2022, President Biden delivered remarks to union workers in Michigan that contained one of his most characteristic rambling asides. Biden asked the audience: “Ten years ago, how many knew what the hell the supply chain was? No, I’m serious. It’s a phrase when I started talking about supply chain, people were going, supply.” The audience had presumably been familiar with supply chains for far longer than Biden suggested. He went on to tell the union audience that if he had the introductory speaker “running in front of me when I was playing flankerback, I could have been an All-American” — his standard embellishment of his collegiate football career. Biden also claimed inflation was “beginning to slow,” that gas prices were down because of his actions, and that grocery prices were improving — all claims contradicted by current data.

”How Many Knew What the Hell the Supply Chain Was?”

Biden’s opening aside was a strange historical claim. “Think about it. Ten years ago, how many knew what the hell the supply chain was? No, I’m serious. It’s a phrase when I started talking about supply chain, people were going, supply, no reason why they should have been. It’s not because they weren’t smart,” Biden said.

The claim — that “supply chain” was an obscure concept ten years ago that Biden had somehow introduced to the vocabulary — was factually incorrect. Supply chain management had been a well-established business discipline for decades. Courses on supply chain management were standard in business schools by the 1990s. Major companies had supply chain executives, supply chain analytics, and supply chain software throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Biden was speaking to an audience of union workers, many of whom worked in manufacturing, logistics, and related industries where supply chain was a daily concept. Telling them they had only recently learned what a supply chain was — and implying Biden had played a role in teaching them — was condescending to an audience that likely understood supply chains better than he did.

The “no reason why they should have been” aside — where Biden said there was no reason his audience should have been familiar with supply chains — compounded the condescension. He was essentially telling working-class Americans that he didn’t expect them to have known about business concepts, while claiming credit for introducing these concepts to public discourse.

”I Could Have Been an All-American”

Biden’s transition to athletic autobiography was characteristic. “And you’re a big guy. And as I told you, if I had you running in front of me when I was playing flankerback, I could have been an All-American, man. Could have been big, could have been big,” Biden said.

The remark was Biden’s standard embellishment of his college football career. Biden played freshman football at the University of Delaware but was not a varsity player, did not earn significant accolades, and was not considered an All-American candidate. The claim that he “could have been an All-American” if only he had better blockers was a retrospective what-if that rewrote his actual athletic history.

The “flankerback” position reference was also unusual. Flankerback (or “flanker”) is a receiver position in football, not a position that typically depends on blockers running in front. The claim made more sense for a running back than a flanker. Biden’s athletic terminology was fuzzy, suggesting the story was more about projecting personal connection than reflecting actual football knowledge.

”An Extraordinary Two Years of Progress”

Biden then pivoted to policy claims. “Together, with the help of your elected leaders here today, we had an extraordinary two years of progress. We passed the American Rescue Plan. Now, everybody knows it, but we did so much. No one knows the effects of it yet. We’re just, just, they’re just coming into play,” Biden said.

The “no one knows the effects of it yet” phrase was revealing. The American Rescue Plan had been passed in March 2021 — nearly two years earlier. If the effects weren’t yet known by November 2022, something was wrong with the premise. Either the effects hadn’t materialized (in which case claiming the plan was successful was premature), or the effects had materialized but weren’t perceived positively (in which case voters disagreed with Biden’s assessment), or the administration was just beginning to implement the plan’s provisions (in which case the implementation had been slow).

The most damaging interpretation was that voters had experienced the plan’s effects — particularly the inflation that economists had warned it would cause — and drawn conclusions Biden didn’t want them to draw. The “no one knows yet” framing allowed Biden to claim that future events would vindicate the plan, preserving the ability to claim success later regardless of current reality.

”Inflation Is Beginning to Slow”

Biden made the standard inflation claim. “Our economy grew at 2.6 percent the last quarter, while inflation started to slow. Look, like you’ve been doing so much too long. Like we’re doing before I got elected president, inflation at the grocery store is — thank God, beginning to slow — prices for things like clothes, television and appliances are going down. That’s good news for the holiday season,” Biden said.

The claims required significant qualification:

Inflation “starting to slow”: Inflation had declined slightly from its June 2022 peak of 9.1% to 7.7% in October 2022. This was “slowing” in the narrow sense that the rate of increase had decreased, but prices were still rising rapidly. Cumulative inflation since Biden took office was approximately 14%, meaning families were paying about $10,000 more per year for the same goods and services.

Grocery prices “slowing”: Food at home inflation was still running above 12% year-over-year in October 2022 — higher than the overall CPI. Grocery prices were not slowing meaningfully; they were continuing to rise at historically elevated rates.

Clothes, TVs, appliances “going down”: Some goods prices had declined from their peaks, but the overall picture was mixed. Used car prices had come down. Some electronics prices had stabilized. But new car prices remained elevated, clothing had mixed trends, and appliances were subject to supply chain volatility.

Biden was cherry-picking the best available data to create an impression of broad improvement. The “beginning to slow” framing was technically defensible for some categories but misleading about the overall inflation picture.

”Laser Focused”

Biden added his standard emphasis language. “We’re laser focused on this. I promise you we’re laser focused on this,” Biden said about inflation.

The “laser focused” phrase had become one of Biden’s most overused modifiers. He applied it to inflation, to supply chains, to border security, to climate policy, to competing with China, and to virtually every policy challenge the administration faced. The overuse had diluted the phrase’s meaning — being “laser focused” on everything was equivalent to being focused on nothing.

Critics noted that the “laser focus” rarely produced the outcomes Biden promised. Inflation at 7.7% in October 2022 wasn’t evidence that laser focus had reduced inflation. Record border encounters weren’t evidence that laser focus had improved border security. The repeated use of the phrase without corresponding results undermined its credibility.

”Stole Michigan’s Uniforms”

Biden then made an odd tangent about sports uniforms. “The thing was that he always, here’s what he did, I have to admit it’s front end, I told this to Kildi on the way up. We stole Michigan’s uniforms. Same exact uniforms. So that’s why the blue and gold, any of you are state folks, just remember. Just remember, for all of you looking at the tie, it’s Delaware, okay? From the University of Michigan, it’s Michigan, the country,” Biden said.

The digression was characteristic of Biden’s rambling delivery. He started a story about supposedly stealing Michigan’s uniforms (likely a joke about the University of Delaware using similar colors to the University of Michigan), trailed off, explained something about his tie, and ended with an unclear comparison between the University of Michigan and “Michigan, the country.”

“Michigan, the country” was particularly confusing. Michigan is a U.S. state, not a country. Biden appeared to be distinguishing between the University of Michigan (where the state flagship university is located) and “Michigan” more broadly, but his choice of “country” instead of “state” was another example of the imprecise word choices that marked his late-2022 speaking patterns.

”Representative Slotkin Came Up on the Plane”

Biden concluded with a name-check. “And Representative Slotkin came up on the plane with me. Is she here today? There you are. I love her, I’m very careful with her because she’s former CIA, I’m really worried,” Biden said.

The reference to Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was a typical Biden acknowledgment. Slotkin was a former CIA analyst before entering politics, and Biden’s quip about being “very careful with her because she’s former CIA” was meant as a joke — the implication being that Slotkin might use intelligence skills against him.

The “I’m really worried” addition was odd but consistent with Biden’s informal speaking style. He often added asides that weren’t quite jokes but weren’t quite serious either.

Key Takeaways

• Biden asked union workers “ten years ago, how many knew what the hell the supply chain was?” — condescending to an audience that likely knew the concept well.
• He claimed his college football career “could have been an All-American” — his standard athletic embellishment.
• Biden said the American Rescue Plan’s effects “are just coming into play” — nearly two years after passage, suggesting either slow implementation or unfavorable reception.
• His inflation-slowing claims were technically defensible for cherry-picked categories but misleading about the overall picture.
• Biden rambled through asides about “stealing Michigan’s uniforms” and confused “Michigan, the country” with the University of Michigan and the state of Michigan.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

• Ten years ago, how many knew what the hell the supply chain was? No, I’m serious.
• If I had you running in front of me when I was playing flankerback, I could have been an All-American.
• We passed the American Rescue Plan. No one knows the effects of it yet.
• Inflation at the grocery store is, thank God, beginning to slow.
• We stole Michigan’s uniforms. Same exact uniforms.
• Representative Slotkin came up on the plane with me. I’m very careful with her because she’s former CIA.

Full transcript: 625 words transcribed via Whisper AI.