Biden and Harris promote drug price reductions at joint rally

What happened

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared together Thursday to celebrate Medicare's first successful price negotiation with drug manufacturers, as allowed by Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Medicare will pay 38 to 79 percent below list price for 10 top-selling drugs when the renegotiated prices take effect in 2026, expected to save taxpayers $6 billion a year and Medicare beneficiaries $1.5 billion.

Who said what

The first joint appearance by Biden and Harris since the president dropped out of the race was “billed as an official White House political event,” but it “quickly took on the tone and feel of a campaign rally,” according to the Washington Post. “We finally defeated the pharmaceutical industry,” Biden told the crowd in Largo, Maryland, and “without a single Republican vote in the entire Congress.” He called Harris, who cast the deciding vote for the IRA in the Senate, an “incredible partner in the progress we've made,” adding, “She's going to be a damn fine president.”

Donald Trump called the IRA a “hoax” in a rambling press conference shortly afterwards and said he had the right to “personally attack” Harris. “I don't have much respect for her intelligence and I think she's going to be a terrible president,” he said.

What happens next?