Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz en route Philadelphia, PA
Aboard Air Force One
En Route
As hopefully you all saw, the
As you all know, there's a lot of doom and gloom about America being purveyed these days, but the facts tell a different story. In 2015, we experienced the fastest wage growth on record, the biggest decline in poverty since the 1960s, and an uninsured rate at its lowest level on record. This progress didn't happen on its own. It was hard-earned by the resilience of the American people and supported by policies of this President.
The President is absolutely committed to using every one of his remaining days in office to further this progress by calling on
With that, I'm happy to take your questions.
Q Do you know if the
We have felt that if we open up individuals to lawsuits that it can start to chip away at the concept of sovereign immunity, which is something that's protected Americans, again, for a very long time. That includes American servicemembers; that includes American diplomats and also American businesses.
So as a matter of policy, this is just not something that we believe is the right course. And that's why the President intends to veto this bill.
Q Does he intend to veto it quickly?
Q On those numbers that you read out earlier, you said there's a lot of doom and gloom that people talk about. Do you think that's illegitimate? Do you think that people who think the economy isn't working, do you think they don't have a strong case to make given the numbers that you just read out?
The uninsured rate, as we've said, continued to fall in almost every state in 2015, reflecting progress under the Affordable Care Act. Refundable tax credits like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit lifted 4.8 million children out of poverty in 2015.
So there's no question there's more work to be done. That's why the President is determined to use his last few months in office to keep his foot on the gas, make sure we can be doing whatever we can to lift wages, to invest in job growth and equal pay for equal work. So the President is not resting on these laurels. The President does want to make sure that these benefits are being felt throughout the economy. And, fortunately, the data today shows that that's happening.
Q Hillary Clinton is not on the trail today because she's recuperating. Does the President feel the need to reassure voters at all about her stamina, or does the
He gave a widely received -- well-received speech at the convention a few weeks ago now, talking about why he believes Secretary Clinton is uniquely qualified to be the next President of
That followed an intense period where he ran against her. He was her opponent on the campaign trail in the primary. And he -- even despite that tension, he witnessed firsthand her grit, her determination, her sense of selflessness and her pride in her country. And that's why he believes she's uniquely qualified to be the next President of
Second, the President also brings a unique perspective to this campaign. He's one of very few people who have actually sat in the
Q Has he called her to check in on her?
Q Yesterday the Vice President said that he thought that he could beat
Q The Vice President says --
Q -- think that
Q It's been seven weeks since that convention. We haven't seen him publicly campaigning for Secretary Clinton in a while. Is there any frustration that he's got this busy day job that's keeping him off the trail? And how is his schedule being crafted for the final eight weeks here? I assume we'll see him ramp up that activity.
That all said, he is very much looking forward to today. Again, he wants to be out there making the case for Secretary Clinton, why he believes she should be the next President of
Q -- to her?
Q Do you think that
Q More broadly, though, if not today, just as a strategy, is that something he endorses?
So we've seen this threat before. Unfortunately, it's been surfacing over the past few months within Republican leadership, but I don't have anything new to add.
Q Have you gotten a readout of the meeting this morning with Secretary Kerry? Can you talk about why that was added and -- I assume it was
So I don't have a detailed readout of that meeting. I imagine that
Q One more campaign question. What does the President think about
Q But should a Republican vice presidential nominee be calling a former KKK leader who sticks by all of his views deplorable?
Q Does the
Q Non-campaign related. We're reporting that the
This has been a long, complicated process. But we believe that it's one that's worth it because it's in the interests of both
Q One on the health care exchanges. The President dropped by a meeting of insurance executives yesterday. Is he worried about those exchanges before the open enrollment, and does he feel like he has enough sway to get enough young people to sign up?
So I can tell you, I was not in the meeting, but the readout I got was that it was a good meeting, a positive one, constructive one -- that in order to make sure the marketplace succeeds, we're going to need people acting in good faith. And, around the table, people felt confident that the Affordable Care Act is working.
Q Does the President take credit for the positive household income numbers that you announced? Does he personally take credit for that?
Q One more. On
I can tell you that passing the
So the President does believe that's on the agenda for the next few months for
But the truth is that if we don't write the rules of the road on trade,
Q Did he seem optimistic that they will?
All right. Thank you.
END
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