James B. Dudley High School
Greensboro, North Carolina
2:22 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Can we hear it for Devin? (Applause.) A rising senior, a soon-to-be voter, and one of our nation’s incredible young leaders.
Devin, you are spectacular. (Applause.)
Good afternoon, Greensboro! (Applause.)
Oh, it’s so good to be back. It’s so good to be back and with so many extraordinary leaders. Thank you all for taking the time to be here this afternoon.
I want to acknowledge my dear friend, Governor Roy Cooper. (Applause.) He — he c- — he came backstage. And I said, “Roy, you tore it up.” (Laughs.) (Applause.)
And, you know, he and I have known each other for years because when I became attorney general of California in 2011, he was attorney general of North Carolina. So, we have been working together for years, Roy. I thank you for the partnership you have given President Biden and me. You’ve been extraordinary as a leader. (Applause.) Can we hear it for him? (Applause.)
And Mayor Nancy Vaughan, thank you for your leadership and for greeting me so warmly on the tarmac this afternoon. Thank you, Mayor. (Applause.)
And, Chairman Alston, I thank you for your friendship and your leadership and all that you do. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you.
So, it is good to be here in this historic place and to be — please have a seat, for those who have seats. (Laughter.)
It is good to be with all the leaders of this incredible community and the leaders who have always here been on the front lines in the fight for civil rights.
As some of you may know, my parents met —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — while they were active in the Civil Rights Movement.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Four more years. That’s what we’re looking forward to.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, as I was saying, this is an extraordinary community of people who have always fought for civil rights and for the rights of all people to speak, when it is their turn to speak — (laughter and applause) — and, of course, all voices are important. And I say that in true sincerity.
But I want to talk a bit about the work of this community in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents met when they were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They took me to those marches when I was in a stroller. And I grew up, then, in a community like this one, where the people who were raising us — I look at Devin, I think about my childhood — we grew up in a community of people who, when we were young, they told us, literally, “You are young, gifted, and Black.”
They taught us that we could do anything and should never be burdened by the limitations of other people to be able or not be able to see what can be. (Applause.) And this is that community who understands and can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been.
We collectively, I know, were raised and taught to understand we have a duty to serve in the fight for freedom, opportunity, and justice for all. (Applause.)
And it is that sense of duty — not “if you feel like it” — duty — which guides us at this very moment.
We are, today, 117 days out from the election. And I know many of us have been involved in these elections every four years, and nearly every time we say, “This is the one.” This here is the one. (Applause.) This is the one — the most existential, consequential, and important election of our lifetime.
Now, we always knew this election would be tough.
And the past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy, nor should it be. But one thing we know about our president, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter. (Applause.) He is a fighter. And he is the first to say, “When you get knocked down, you get back up. You get back up.” (Applause.)
So, we will continue to fight, and we will continue to organize. And in November, we will win. (Applause.) We will win, because we know what’s at stake.
And in this election, there can be no doubt — no doubt who you can count on to fight for you when it counts. It’s simple. President Biden and I fight for the American people; Donald Trump does not. (Applause.) He fights for himself.
Roy talked about — and look at the issue of affordable health care. When Donald Trump was in the White House, he tried more than 60 times — 60 times to end the Affordable Care Act, to take health care back from millions of Americans, including 3 million Black Americans; to once again give insurance companies the power to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions. You remember that?
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember what that was like when people were being denied health care because of a preexisting condition? Children with asthma, women who had survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes.
Let’s not forget what, not too long ago, that kind of perspective means and meant to real people: our relatives, our friends.
President Joe Biden and I, on the other hand, have defended the Affordable Care Act and made it stronger — (applause) — because we know access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it.
With your support, we also have the strength to finally take on Big Pharma and lower the cost of prescription drugs. (Applause.)
It was with the knowledge that Black people are 60 percent more likely to have diabetes; Latinos, 70 percent more likely to have diabetes that we capped the cost of insulin for our seniors at $35 a month. (Applause.)
Because we listened and heard and are clear about who we represent, we are finally making it so that medical debt can no longer be used against your credit score. (Applause.)
There’s the issue of student loan debt. When Donald Trump was in the White House, he tried to end student loan forgiveness for public servants. Who are our public servants? Well, they include our teachers, nurses, firefighters. (Applause.)
Joe Biden, then, on the other hand — Joe Biden and I, well, we have forgiven student loan debt for nearly 5 million Americans — (applause) — and twice as much for our public servants.
We, together with you, have also taken on the issue of gun violence, knowing — (applause) — knowing the tragic reality. Greensboro, gun violence today in America is the number one killer of the children of America. Think about that: Not car accidents, not some form of cancer — gun violence is the number one killer of the children of America. And Black Americans are 10 times as likely to be the victim of gun homicide.
You know, over the years, you all know — as a former prosecutor, over the years, I have held the hands of far too many mothers and fathers and tried to comfort them after their child was killed by gun violence, both in mass shootings and what we call “everyday” gun violence.
So, Joe Biden and I decided to prioritize this issue. And to address this crisis, we passed the first major gun safety law in nearly 30 years — (applause) — a bipartisan law to strengthen background checks.
We created the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which I lead. (Applause.)
We invested $1 billion to hire mental health counselors in public schools to help heal the mental trauma of gun violence. (Applause.) Because far too many of our children go to school every day learning about how this could impact them in a very real way.
Last fall, I did a tour speaking with Gen Z. I love Gen Z. (Applause.) And — and I’d ask them, “Raise your hand if you have ever had to, in schools, anytime between kindergarten and 12th grade” — I’d ask them, “have you had to endure an active shooter drill?”
And to the older adults here, I will tell you it is bone-chilling. When they respond, almost every hand went up. These are very real issues.
On the other hand, Donald Trump opposed reasonable gun safety reforms and cut funding for gun violence prevention. We can —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We simply know we cannot count on Donald Trump to help keep America and Americans safe, not here at home and not on the world stage.
And, yes, I am also talking then about national security. This week, our president, Joe Biden, is hosting more than 30 global leaders in Washington, D.C., for the NATO Summit. Now, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known. (Applause.)
And thanks to our president, Joe Biden — thanks to Joe Biden, if there’s one single person who deserves credit in the world for strengthening NATO, making it stronger, making it more united and more effective, that is Joe Biden. (Applause.) That is Joe Biden.
And having made it more effective, then, together with our allies around the globe, we are standing up to the dictator Putin, all — (applause) — all to ensure America is strong and Americans are safe. (Applause.)
On the other hand — do watch, because it’s not new. On the other hand, watch as Donald Trump has embraced Putin. Watch that. It’s not just happening today. It’s been happening, as he, Trump, threatened to abandon NATO and encouraged Putin to invade our Allies. He even said Russia can — and I’m going to quote him now, and forgive the use of the word, but he — he said, quote, Russia can, quote, “do whatever the hell they want.”
And he wants to be the president of the United States?
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And understand, as Trump bows down to dictators, he makes America weak. And that is disqualifying for someone who wants to be commander-in-chief of the United States of America. (Applause.) That is disqualifying.
So, all of this to say there is so much at stake in this moment. And last week, we were again reminded of that fact when the Supreme Court basically —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — basically told this individual, who had been convicted of fraud, that, going forward, he will be immune for activity we know he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is not 2016. This is not 2020. Understand the significance of what the Supreme Court just did.
And consider that in the context of the fact that Donald Trump has openly vowed, if reelected, he will be a dictator on day one, that he will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies, round up peaceful protesters and throw them out of our country, and even — and I will quote — “terminate” the United States Constitution.
Let us be very clear. Someone who suggests we should, quote, “terminate” our Constitution should never again have the chance to stand behind a microphone — (applause) — and never again have the chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America. (Applause.)
And some of you, of course, have heard that Trump’s advisors have created a 900-page blueprint for their agenda for the second term, if they were to have one. They call it “Project 2025.”
And it includes — check this out: It includes a plan to cut Social Security. It includes a plan to repeal our $35 cap on insulin. It includes a plan to eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start, I say to the teachers and the students here.
And Project 2025 outlines a plan to limit access to contraception, and for a nationwide abortion ban with or without an act of Congress.
And on the topic of reproductive freedom, I know we all agree: One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body. (Applause.)
If she chooses, she will talk — if she chooses — with her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her imam, but not her government telling her what to do. (Applause.)
If implemented, Project 2025 would be the latest attempt in Donald Trump’s full-on assault on reproductive freedom, because we remember then-President Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to undo the protections of Roe v. Wade. And as he intended, they did.
Now, over 20 states have Trump abortion bans. Now, in the South, where the majority of Black women live, every state except for Virginia has a ban, many with no exceptions even for rape or incest.
And Trump proudly takes credit for overturning Roe. Make no mistake, if he gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban and outlaw abortion in every single state. But we are not going to let that happen. (Applause.)
We are not going to let that happen, because we have worked too hard and fought too long to see our daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than our mothers. (Applause.)
And when Congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of Roe, our president, Joe Biden, will sign it. (Applause.)
So, ultimately, in this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? That’s the question being posed to each one of us. Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?
We each — and here’s the beauty in this: We each have the power to answer that question. We have the power. And, North Carolina, we were born for a time such as this. (Applause.) We were born for a time such as this.
If the Supreme Court says the laws do not apply to Donald Trump and extremists in Congress continue to bow down to him, if people like Mike Pence are not around to stand up to him, our last line of defense is the ballot box — your vote, your voice. (Applause.) We the people have the power.
So, today, I ask, North Carolina, are you ready to make your voices heard? (Applause.)
Do we believe in freedom? (Applause.)
Do we believe in opportunity? (Applause.)
Do we believe in the promise of America? (Applause.)
Are we ready to fight for it? (Applause.)
And when we fight, we win.
God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END 2:43 P. M. EDT
