NOTE: the following article is satire, not a statement of fact. Treat it as such.
Biden recently gave a speech on lower drug prices. Meant to be about prescription drugs and high-cost pharmaceuticals, like insulin, it ended up being about his son Hunter’s struggle with drug addiction when Biden went off on one of his gaffe stories. The speech began ok, with Biden saying:
You know, we’re here at a pharmacy today at the National Institutes of Health to talk about my administration’s work to crack down on price-gouging, to lower prescription drug costs, to put money back in the pockets of hardworking families, and to reduce government spending on prescription drugs at the same time. Usually, when you talk about government doing something that’s going to affect spending, you think it’s going to be — we’re going to help people and going to cost taxpayers more. But this lowers taxes as well as lowers costs for individuals.
Too many folks lay awake at night — and I know from experience — watching that — staring at the ceiling worrying what will happen if their spouse gets cancer or if their child gets sick or if something happens to one of them. Do they have enough insurance? Can they afford the medical bills? Will they have to sell the house? Will they — I get up, and — you know, it — it’s easy to understand it. And we all know somebody who’s been through that experience. This isn’t just about healthcare. It’s about your dignity. It’s about security.
You know, I think some of the press was with me when I was in Northern Virginia and that very distinguished-looking woman stood up. And she looked like she was in her early 40s, maybe a little older. And she said she had a problem, and the problem was she couldn’t afford the insulin for her children who had diabetes — she had two of them — talking about having to cut it in half. So — and because the cost was as much as $800 a month for them, and their insurance couldn’t cover it.
Continuing, things got bad for Biden as he wandered off script, with the thought of obscene monthly expenses on drugs making him think of Hunter. He said, “Look, my family knows about high monthly drug costs. I get it, ok?! Look, Hunter, he was in a bad place. I love him dearly, but he was. And he kept spending more and more money on these…these…well, powders and such. Drugs, there, I said it! And that was no good, not just because it was expensive, but because it was bad for him.”
“So I know your pain. I do. I know what it’s like to have to deal with high drug costs. Cost that are just too much for normal people. Too high to bear. I know that. I get it. I do! So we gotta stop that, and this bill is how we do that!”
KJP later had to emphasize that the bill was not meant to lower the price of crack-cocaine.