Apparently, Bush thought the joke successful enough to repeat on other occasions, usually to his fellow republicans and benefactors:
"Obviously, we've got budget matters. You know, when I was running for President, in Chicago, somebody said, would you ever have deficit spending? I said, only if we were at war, or only if we had a recession, or only if we had a national emergency. Never did I dream we'd get the trifecta." (Laughter.)
Taft for Governor Luncheon, Ohio, May 10, 2002
"You know, I was campaigning in Chicago and somebody asked me, is there ever any time where the budget might have to go into deficit? I said only if we were at war or had a national emergency or were in recession. Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.) But we're fine."
Remarks at GOP Luncheon, February 27, 2002 White House release
"I remember campaigning in Chicago one time, and the guy said, would you ever deficit spend? I said, well, only if we were at war, or the country was in recession, or there was a national emergency. (Laughter.) I didn't realize we were going to get the trifecta. (Laughter.) We're dealing with the issue of our economy, and I want you to know that we're dealing with the issue of war and our national emergency, as well."
Remarks at Fisher for Governor Reception, April 3rd, 2002
"I was campaigning in Chicago one time and a fellow said, would you ever allow for deficit spending, would that ever enter your vocabulary? I said, well, under certain circumstances: only if we're at war or there was a national emergency or there was a recession. Little did I realize we'd draw the trifecta."
Remarks at the Graham for Senate Luncheon - Greenville, SC, March 27, 2002
"I'll never forget one time in Chicago when a reporter said, would you ever deficit spend? And I said, well, only -- only if we were at war, only if there were a national emergency, or only if there is a recession. Never did I believe we'd get the trifecta. But we're dealing with it."
Remarks at Saxby Chambliss for Senate Dinner - Atlanta, GA, March 27, 2002
"You know, when I was campaigning in Chicago, in the general election, somebody said, would you ever deficit spend? I said, well, only if we were at war, or there was a national emergency, or we were in a recession. Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta."
Remarks at Victory 2002 Event, March 29th, 2002
"The recession -- no question, I remember when I was campaigning, I said, would you ever deficit spend? And I said, yes, only if there were a time of war, or recession, or a national emergency. Never thought we'd get -- and so we have a temporary deficit in our budget, because we are at war, we're recovering, our economy is recovering, and we've had a national emergency. Never did I dream we'd have the trifecta."
April 16th, 2002
"You know, when I was campaigning in Chicago one time, they said, would you ever have a deficit? I said, I hope not. I said, I think it's important for us to make -- to work hard to have a balanced budget. But I said, yes, I'd have a deficit if I were the President only if we were at war, or in a recession, or in times of emergency. I didn't think I was going to draw the trifecta."
Remarks at Heather Wilson for Congress Luncheon, April 29th, 2002
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