Biden Says “The United Steak of America,” Forgets Mayor’s Name, Brags About Falling Gas Prices Despite Year-Over-Year Surge

On 12/8/2021, President Biden delivered remarks in Kansas City promoting his Build Back Better agenda, stumbling over words, forgetting local officials’ names while reading from a teleprompter, and bragging that gas prices were lower despite costing roughly $1 per gallon more than the previous year. Biden also repeated his debunked Amtrak story and his pledge that no one making under $400,000 would see a tax hike.

”The United Steak of America”

During his speech, Biden mangled his delivery of a patriotic appeal. “No parent should have to do what many had to do last semester,” Biden said. “And that is sitting the parking lot of a fast food restaurant so their children could use the internet to get their homework done. This is the United Steak of America, God’s sake.” The verbal slip — saying “steak” instead of “states” — generated immediate attention.

Biden also stumbled over the name of a local official while reading from his teleprompter. “I want to thank con executive Frank, right,” Biden said, struggling to identify the county executive by name. In Kansas City, Biden appeared unable to recall the name of the mayor.

Gas Prices: Down From a Month Ago, Up From Last Year

Biden touted falling gas prices as a recent achievement. “Today, the average price you’re paid here in Kansas City is below $2 a gallon. Two or three dollars down to $2.90 a gallon. Twenty percent down from a month ago,” Biden said. “Naturally, prices are down seven cents a gallon, continuing to fall.”

While gas prices had dipped in recent weeks, they remained roughly $1 per gallon higher than the same period the previous year — a fact Biden did not mention.

The Amtrak Story Returns

Biden repeated his well-worn Amtrak anecdote, a story that has been repeatedly questioned by fact-checkers for its timeline. “You know, the fact is that you’re looking at Mr. Amtrak here,” Biden said. “I’ve traveled over — the city of God’s truth — I’ve traveled over a million 250,000 miles on Amtrak.”

Biden then told the story of an Amtrak conductor who grabbed his cheek and said, “Joey, baby,” recounting how the Secret Service nearly intervened. The conductor, Biden said, told him at a retirement dinner that he had traveled 1.2 million miles on Amtrak — a claim that has been scrutinized because the conductor Biden named had already passed away before the timeline Biden describes.

No Tax Hikes — Repeated

Biden returned to his signature economic promise multiple times. “Everybody talks about the price tag for this legislation. Trillion 750 billion dollars, it will not cost the taxpayers penny,” Biden said. “If you’re making less than 400 grand a year, you’re not going to have your taxes go up one single penny, not a cent.”

He added: “It also means that there is no, no increase, no increase to taxes. And people are going to just pay a fair share.”

Build Back Better and Childcare

Biden promoted the childcare provisions in his Build Back Better bill. “In Missouri and Kansas, the average annual cost to send a toddler to child care is $6,500 a year. If you live in Chicago, it’s more like $22,000 a year for a child,” Biden said. “Our Build Back Better bill is going to make a giant difference in life because your childcare cost will be capped at 7% of your income.”

He claimed a family making $50,000 a year would save $3,000 annually on childcare costs and cited a study saying his plan would mean “the equivalent of $7,400 in tax cuts and savings for the typical family of four.”

Inflation Is “Real” But the Bill Will Help

Biden acknowledged inflation directly. “Let’s talk about inflation. It’s real. There’s inflation,” he said. But he argued his spending bill would help: “17 Nobel winners of economics have written a letter just about three weeks ago to me affirming that this bill would ease long-term inflationary pressures in the economy.”

He also cited “two of the leading rating agencies in the world, the Wall Street Journal” — referring to Moody’s and another agency — as confirming “my plans do not add to inflationary pressures.”

An Obama Story

Biden shared an anecdote about former President Obama. He described walking out of a meeting “and I whispered” something to Obama, though Biden said he had no idea “how in God’s name anybody heard it.” Biden recounted getting into the presidential limousine where Obama “was laughing like the devil. He was almost hysterical. I said, what’s so damn funny? And he told me and I said he was just lucky my mother’s not alive. I’d be one dead man.”

Key Takeaways

Biden said “the United Steak of America” instead of “United States” while reading from a teleprompter during a Kansas City speech.
He bragged gas prices were down 20% from a month ago while omitting they were roughly $1 per gallon higher than the prior year.
Biden repeated his Amtrak story claiming 1.2 million miles traveled, a claim fact-checkers have questioned due to timeline issues.
He pledged again that no one making under $400,000 would see a tax increase under Build Back Better.
Biden acknowledged inflation was “real” but cited Nobel laureates and rating agencies to argue his spending bill would ease inflationary pressure.

Transcript Highlights

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

No parent should have to do what many had to do last semester. And that is sitting the parking lot of a fast food restaurant so their children could use the internet to get their homework done. This is the United States of America, God’s sake.
If you’re making less than 400 grand a year, you’re not going to have your taxes go up one single penny, not a cent.
Today, the average price you’re paid here in Kansas City is below $2 a gallon. Two or three dollars down to $2.90 a gallon. Twenty percent down from a month ago.
Our Build Back Better bill is going to make a giant difference in life because your childcare cost will be capped at 7% of your income.
Let’s talk about inflation. It’s real. There’s inflation. But 17 Nobel winners of economics have written a letter affirming that this bill would ease long-term inflationary pressures.
I’ve traveled over a million 250,000 miles on Amtrak. Joey, baby, he said, we calculated it at the retirement dinner. You’ve done 1,200,000 miles on Amtrak.

Full transcript: 1116 words transcribed via Whisper AI.