Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Sparks

Biden Raved About EVs to the Special Counsel: ‘Damn, They’re Quick’

He then made an unspecified “car sound.”

President Biden.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

It is the great Faustian bargain of the American presidency: To lead the world’s most powerful nation, you have to give up driving forever.

For some leaders, this sacrifice can be excruciating. Given the opportunity to climb behind the wheel of a Mack truck in 2017, then-President Trump honked the horn, mimed driving, and was reported generally looking like “he wanted to steal it.” Later, in 2020, during a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the president gazed longingly at some “nice trucks” nearby and wondered aloud, “You think I could hop into one of them and drive it away? I’d love to do it. Just drive the hell outta here.”

This destiny has been especially cruel for car guy and speed junkie Joe Biden — so much so, in fact, that during his interview last fall with Robert Hur, the special counsel investigating allegations that Biden mishandled classified documents, the president complained about only being allowed to drive his beloved Corvette up and down his driveway.

According to Biden, there is at least one silver lining that comes with the highest office in the land: “Probably one of the best parts to being vice president and president, I get to drive all these, you know, electric vehicles,” the president raved to his interviewers. “I have. Damn, they’re quick.”

The transcript goes on:

President Biden: You know, think about this. You had one of those big 4x4s, the — I think it’s a Ford Bronco, whatever it is. Zero to 60 in 4.6.

Robert Hur: Yes.

Marc Krickbaum, deputy special counsel: Instant torque.

Hur: That’s fast.

Biden: Yeah. By the way, you know how it works?

(laughter)

Biden: It’s really cool.

Hur: Sir, I’d love — I would love, love to hear more about this, but I do have a few more questions to get through.

Biden: You can take 30 seconds, but you put your foot on the brake, you hit, you hit a button that’s in the — and it says “launch.”

(laughter)

Biden: You step your foot on the accelerator all the way down —

Hur: Woah.

Biden: — until it gets to about 6, 7 grand. Then all of a sudden, it will say “launch.” All you do is take your foot off the brake. (makes car sound) 

[Interview transcript]

In this limited context, at least, Hur’s later questioning of the president’s mental acuity seems a little unfair. Tell me you wouldn’t make excited car noises if you had the chance to experience instant torque, especially if you’d hung up your own car keys over a decade before.

It almost — almost — makes getting elected worth it.

Blue

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Sparks

Trump Says He’s Going to Slap a Huge Tariff on Copper

“I believe the tariff on copper — we’re going to make it 50%.”

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

President Trump announced Tuesday during a cabinet meeting that he plans to impose a hefty tax on U.S. copper imports.

“I believe the tariff on copper — we’re going to make it 50%,” he told reporters.

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Sparks

Trump Will ‘Deal’ with Wind and Solar Tax Credits in Megabill, GOP Congressman Says

“We had enough assurance that the president was going to deal with them.”

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

A member of the House Freedom Caucus said Wednesday that he voted to advance President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” after receiving assurances that Trump would “deal” with the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits – raising the specter that Trump could try to go further than the megabill to stop usage of the credits.

Representative Ralph Norman, a Republican of North Carolina, said that while IRA tax credits were once a sticking point for him, after meeting with Trump “we had enough assurance that the president was going to deal with them in his own way,” he told Eric Garcia, the Washington bureau chief of The Independent. Norman specifically cited tax credits for wind and solar energy projects, which the Senate version would phase out more slowly than House Republicans had wanted.

Keep reading...Show less
Sparks

Majority of North Carolina Voters Want to Keep the IRA, Poll Finds

The state’s senior senator, Thom Tillis, has been vocal about the need to maintain clean energy tax credits.

A North Carolina sign and solar panels.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The majority of voters in North Carolina want Congress to leave the Inflation Reduction Act well enough alone, a new poll from Data for Progress finds.

The survey, which asked North Carolina voters specifically about the clean energy and climate provisions in the bill, presented respondents with a choice between two statements: “The IRA should be repealed by Congress” and “The IRA should be kept in place by Congress.” (“Don’t know” was also an option.)

Keep reading...Show less
Green