Colonial Theater
Pittsfield, Massachusetts

2:51 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)  Oh, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

Thank you all.  (Laughs.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  (Laughs.) 

Thank you, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Oh, thank you so very much. 

Pl- — can we please give it up for James Taylor, by the way?  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)

Oh, what a great treat for me to be on the same stage with James Taylor.  (Laughter and applause.)  And Kim and Henry Taylor, as well, are here, and I want to thank the whole family. And, James, in particular, thank you for always using the gift of your voice in such a courageous way. 

You provide us joy.  You provide us moments for reflection.  But you’re always standing up, also, for what we care about and love in terms of our country.  So, thank you for that.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

And thank you to all of today’s performers for being such an important part of this afternoon, including the great Yo-Yo Ma — (applause) — and the extraordinary Emanuel Ax.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.

You know, the — the — an important part of every movement is our artists.  And so, I — I’m very honored to be with you all today.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.) 

And it is good to be with so many incredible leaders, including, of course, Senator Elizabeth Warren — (applause) –Senator Ed Markey — (applause) — Congressman Richie Neal — (applause) — Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll — (applause) — Mayor Pete Marchetti.  (Applause.)  And I also thank my dear friend, former Governor Deval Patrick — (applause) — and former first lady Diane Patrick — (applause) — and the entire host committee for welcoming us today.  Thank you all. 

So, I will begin by saying a bit — although I could talk all afternoon — about our incredible president, Joe Biden.  (Applause.)

So, it has truly been one of the greatest honors of my life and career to serve as vice president to Joe Biden. 

His legacy of acco- — and James and I were just talking about this — his legacy of accomplishment over his entire career and over the past three and a half years is unmatched in modern history. 

In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office.  And as he said in his Oval Office address earlier this week, in the next six months, he will continue to fight for the American people.  (Applause.)  And I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continued service to our nation.  (Applause.)

And it is also my great honor to have Joe Biden’s endorsement in this race.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)

And many of you may know, already, we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.  (Applause.)  I thank you for the help.  (Laughs.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you all.  (Applause.)

And I pledge to you that in the coming weeks, I will continue to work so very hard to do what we must do to unite our party on the path to uniting our country. 

And so, let me just say a few things about my background. 
    
Many of you may know, before I was elected vice president of the United States, I was a United States senator.  And before then, I was elected attorney general of California.  And before that, district attorney of San Francisco.  And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor.

All that to say — (laughter and applause) — in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — (laughter and applause) — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.  So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.  (Laughter and applause.)

In fact, I have been dealing with people like him my entire career.  (Laughter.)

For example, as attorney general, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students.  Well, Donald Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students. 

As a prosecutor, I specialized in sexual abuse cases.  Well, Trump was found liable for committing sexual abuse. 

As attorney general, I held the big Wall Street banks accountable for fraud.  Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud — 34 counts. 

So, in this campaign — and I say in all seriousness — I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.  (Applause.)  Any day of the week.

But let us — let us make no mistake.  This campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. 

Our campaign has always been about two very different visions for our nation.  One, ours, that is focused on the future, and the other that is focused almost entirely on the past. 

We believe in a future that keeps America’s economy the strongest in the world; a future that promotes both economic growth and economic fairness, where every person has the opportunity to compete, thrive, and prosper — to build a business, to own a home, and to build generational wealth; where we, in the future, bring down cost for hardworking Americans so they can afford to pay their bills and still have something left over, so they have a chance not just to get by but to get ahead; a future where every worker has the freedom to join a union — (applause) — where no child has to grow up in poverty — (applause) — and where every senior can retire with dignity — (applause); a future with affordable health care, affordable childcare, and paid leave.  (Applause.)

All of this is to say that building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.  Because we know — (applause) — when America’s middle class is strong, America is strong.  (Applause.)

But as we fight to move our nation forward, Donald Trump intends to take our country backward.  Just look at his Project 2025 agenda.  A- — and, by the way, can you believe they put that thing in writing?  (Laughter.)  Nine hundred pages of it.  (Laughter.)
    
So, Project 2025 is a plan that would return America to a very dark past — and weaken the middle class, by the way. 
    
Independent economists have said Trump’s plans would reignite inflation, slow economic growth, and increase unemployment. 

Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.  He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill. 
    
He intends to end the Affordable Care Act and take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions. 

You guys remember what that was? It was real.  Children with asthma.  Breast cancer survivors.  Grandparents with diabetes. 

And America has tried these failed policies before.  And we are not going back.  We are not going back.  (Applause.) 

We are not going back.  We are not going back.  (Applause.)

And, you know, there’s been this, I think, quite perverse thing that has been happening over the last several years, which is that some folks would suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down — you know that — have you noticed? — right? — that somehow you’re strong if you’re a bully? — instead of what we all know: The true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up — who you lift up.  (Applause.)  That’s the strength of a leader. 

And so, to the friends here, I say, it is we who are working to lift up the people of America.  We’re clear about this. 

You know, and when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. 

We are clear, it is we who are intent on lifting up the people of our nation.  And ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom. 

Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom, and now the baton is in our hands.  It’s in our hands. 

We, who believe in the sacred freedom to vote, will finally pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.  (Applause.) 

We — we, who believe that every person in our nation should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence, will finally pass universal background checks — (applause) — red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban.  (Applause.)

And we, who believe in reproductive freedom, will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans — (applause) — because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies and not have their government telling them what to do.  (Applause.)

And — I’m just going off script for a second.  So, here’s the thing — (laughter) —

Think about it.  You know, there’s so much about what we have prided ourselves in about our country in terms of progress, understanding that one of the defining components of that progress is the expansion of rights.  And we are seeing a full-on agenda that is now about restricting rights — and one of the most fundamental rights, the right to make decisions about your own body. 

Think about that.  And if there are those who dare to take the freedom to make such a fundamental decision for an individual, which is about one’s own body, what other freedoms could be on the table for the taking?  (Applause.)

This is serious business — serious business.  And I pledge to you, when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.  (Applause.)

So, to everyone here and all the friends I say, you know, ultimately, in this election, I do believe that each one of us faces a question.  That question being, what kind of country do we want to live in? 

Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

And the beauty of our democracy is that each one of us has the power to answer that question.  And the power then, I say, is with the people.  The power is with the people. 

So, in 101 days, which is November 5th — (laughter) — let us be clear-eyed: We have a fight ahead of us.  We got a fight ahead of us.  And we are the underdogs in this race.  Okay?  Level set.  We’re the underdogs in this race. 

But this is a people-powered campaign, and we have momentum.  The day after I announced my candidacy, we saw the best 24 hours of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history.  (Applause.)

And since then — and since then, in battleground states, people have been flooding our offices around the country to volunteer.  So — (applause) — this is good.  We’ve got momentum.  It’s on our side. 

And you may have noticed Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record.  And some of what he and his running mate are saying, it’s just plain weird.  (Laughter.)  I mean, that’s the box you put that in, right?  (Laughter and applause.)

And you may have seen he just pulled out of our debate.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Mm-hmm.  Right?  I hope he reconsiders.  I hope he reconsiders.  Because we have a lot to talk about.  (Laughter and applause.)  Yep.

But the bottom line is we have our work cut out for us.  Okay?  We have our work cut out for us.  And this is not going to be easy.  But I know something about the folks in this room.  We can do hard things.  And we like hard work.  That’s good work. 

And on that point, I will say, it is because of that I will tell you what I sincerely and deeply know and believe: We are going to win.  (Applause.)  We are going to win. 

So, today I ask, are you ready to get to work? 

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in freedom? 

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in opportunity?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in the promise of America?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And are we ready to fight for it? 

AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.) 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And when we fight, we win.  (Applause.) 

God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.) 

Thank you all.  Thank you.

END                 3:10 P.M. EDT