the space for a woman her doctor and the United States government. That's too many people in the room.
Forward on worker rights. Because most people do not mind working, they just want to share
the prosperity that they are creating for others. Forward on voting rights. Forward on affordable
housing and access to health care. We are moving forward.
And so I'm inspired tonight.
I'm inspired by all of you. I'm inspired by the resilience of an American spirit
that has rebounded from the pandemic and is holding at bay the forces that are trying to
divide us. And I'm inspired tonight by the memory of my late father, a preacher and a junk man.
Monday through Friday, he lifted old broken cars and put them on the back of an old rig.
But on Sunday morning, the man who lifted broken cars, lifted broken people whom other people
had discarded and told them that they were God somebody. My dad discovered strength in the
broken places. A power made perfect in weakness. And so I'm convinced tonight
that we can lift the broken even as we climb. I'm convinced tonight that we can heal sick bodies.
We can heal the wounds that divide us. We can heal a planet in peril. We can heal the land.
And in a strange way, in a strange way, the pandemic taught us how. A contagious airborne
disease means that I have a personal stake in the health of my neighbor. If she's sick,
I may get sick also. Her health care is good for my health.
I'm just trying to tell you that we are as close in our humanity as a cough.
I need my neighbor's children to be okay so that my children will be okay. I need
all of my neighbor's children to be okay. Poor inner-city children in Atlanta and poor children
of Appalachia. I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza. I need
Israelis and Palestinians. I need those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine. I need
American children on both sides of the track to be okay. Because we are all God's children.
And so let's stand together. Let's work together. Let's organize together. Let's pray together.
Let's stand together. Let's heal the land. God bless you. Keep behind it. And keep looking up.
Please welcome Delaware Senator Chris Coons.
Good evening, folks. Good evening, America. Good evening, Chicago. Are there any Democrats
in the room tonight? Folks, we are on the verge of making history. We are on the verge of an
historic election. And I want to talk with you for just a few minutes about my dear friend,
our President, Joe Biden. Joe Biden's mom had a saying, you are defined by your courage
and you are redeemed by your loyalty. Four years ago, I had the honor of helping introduce Joe
Biden to our national convention. I spoke about Joe's faith, his love of family,
his determination to restore the soul of our nation. Back in 2020, America was nearly flat on
our back from a deadly pandemic, an economic collapse, and then in January, an assault on our
democracy. All of this, all of this, because the drama and chaos of our former President
had knocked us down. But folks, Joe Biden's courage, Joe Biden's faith in us, Joe Biden's
determination to heal the soul of our nation gave us hope and gave us confidence. Someone who has
himself been knocked down by life, time, and again. Joe Biden knows the grit and determination
of the American people. He believed in us, and Joe Biden helped us get back up again.
Using the incredible skills he'd developed in many years in the U.S. Senate, Joe got passed
and signed into law the most consequential legislation of any President in 60 years,
helping our veterans, advancing gun safety, cutting prescription drug prices, fighting climate
change, rebuilding bridges and broadband, bringing manufacturing back to America together,
Joe and Kamala helped rebuild our economy from the middle up, from the bottom up in the middle
out, not from the top down. And they made our families safer and our country stronger at home
and abroad. Today, we are so much better off because they believed in us in our democracy.
And our incredible First Lady, Jill Biden,
our incredible First Lady, Jill Biden,
our incredible First Lady, Jill Biden,
was at Joe's side every step of the way, fighting for education, advancing the cancer
moonshot, determined to improve women's health care, honoring military families.
Joe and Jill together, you have done so much for us, and there's so much more you will do,
and we can do together. Mr. President, thank you. Thank you for elevating a great leader in Kamala
Harris. Vice President Harris, thank you for choosing a great running mate with a heart for
the middle class like yours in sergeant, congressman, coach, governor, Tim Walz.
I have hope to you. I have hoped to you. I have hoped to you. And it is in no small part
because of Joe Biden. I have never known a more compassionate man than Joe Biden.
I have never known a man who has taken from his own loss and his own faith and delivered so much
for the future of so many others. Mr. President, Mr. President, you were my senator as a Delawarean.
You are my president as an American, and you will always be my friend.
On behalf of our nation, Joe, for your courage in fighting for our democracy, we thank you.
On behalf of our Democratic Party, for your loyalty in fighting for our democratic values,
we thank you. And on behalf of Delaware, thank you, Joe, and God bless you. We love you. We love
Joe. We love Joe. We love Joe. We love Joe. Thank you all. We love Joe. God bless you, and thank you very
much.
Hi, I'm Vivian Werewell, and I'm a fourth grade student at Chris McCollough. I've been
dancing around all week excited for this moment, and last night I could be able to sleep. I remember
the day that we heard that President Biden had won, and the whole neighborhood started
celebrating. So when I heard you were coming, I really wanted to meet you.
I adore you because you embrace change from my generation, and the ones to come. I look up to you.
Now it is my honor to introduce our first lady, Dr. Jill Biden.
Please welcome first lady of the United States, Jill Biden.
I have been a son of a young lady. I have been a son of a young lady. I have been a son of a young lady.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Love you too.
Joe and I have been together for almost 50 years.
And still, there are moments when I fall in love with him all over again.
Like when I handed him our baby Ashley for the first time, and saw the smile that lit up his face,
or on nights after an exhausting day, working in the Senate, when he would read one more bedtime story
just because the kids asked. When he stops on a rope line, because he sees someone grieving,
who needs to know that everything is going to be all right one day, or to encourage that child
with a stutter to find the confidence she needs. Those moments when I'm reminded of all he's
accomplished in the name of something bigger than himself, receiving the Medal of Freedom with Humility.
Placing his hand on our family Bible to take his oath of office.
And weeks ago, when I saw him dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek reelection,
and endorse Kamala Harris with faith and conviction, Joe knows that our nation's strength
doesn't come from intimidation or cruelty. It comes from the small acts of kindness that
heal deep wounds from service to the communities that make us who we are from love of a country
that shines with promise and renewal. Kamala Harris knows that too.
Our son Beau first worked with Kamala when he was Attorney General of Delaware.
He told me at the dinner table one night, mom, she's special, someone to keep your eye on,
and he was right. Joe and I know Kamala. We have seen her courage, her determination,
and her leadership up close. Kamala and Tim, you will win.
And you are inspiring a new generation. We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves,
and we are stronger than we know. The future of our country is in the hands of those in this room,
and all of you watching at home. It's going to take all of us, and we can't afford to lose.
With faith in each other, hope for a brighter future, and love for our country. We will
fight, and we will win together. Thank you. Thank you.
Please welcome First Daughter, Ashley Biden.
Good evening. I have this memory. It's the eve of my eighth birthday.
Dad is still in D.C. tending to urgent matters in the Senate. That night, as a surprise,
Mom told me, Bo, and Hunter to get in the car. I remember pulling up to the Wilmington Amtrak
station, riding up the escalator to the platform. The train stops, doors open, and Dad steps out.
As soon as I saw him, I run down that platform and jump into his arms. Like magic,
Mom brought out a cake. They sang Happy Birthday, and I blew out the candles.
Dad hugged me, and he said that he had to get back to work. He crossed to the southbound train,
and off he went to D.C. That was a snapshot of one moment of one day on this extraordinary journey
of being Joe Biden's daughter. Joe Biden is the OG girl dad.
He told me I could be anything, and I could do anything. As a child, I would sit on the leather
chair in his office doing my homework, and he would sit next to me doing his work, drafting
the Violence Against Women Act. And he wasn't just a girl dad. I could see, and he wasn't just a
girl dad. I could see that he valued and trusted women.
How he listened to his mother, how he believed in his sister, and most of all, how he respected
my mother's career. Dad was always there doing everything he could to be a true partner to her.
Dad, you always tell us, but we don't tell you enough, that you are the love of our lives and the life of our love.
I had my wedding reception in my parents' backyard. At the time, my dad was vice president.
But he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception. He was riding around in his
John Deere four-wheeler, fixing the play settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very
emotional. I thought that I would be a mess, but he was the one crying, and I was the one who had
to comfort him. Before he walked me down the aisle, he turned to me and said that he would
always be my best friend. All these years later, Dad, you are still my best friend.
His example in service inspired my career. I'm a social worker in Philadelphia.
I support formerly incarcerated women as they healed from past trauma and they reclaimed their lives.
Dad always told me that I was no better than anybody else and nobody was better than me.
He taught me that everyone deserves a fair shot and that we shouldn't leave anyone behind.
That's what you learn from a fighter who has been underestimated his entire life.
When I look at Dad, I see grace, strength, and humility. I see one of the most consequential
leaders ever in history. And I also know that he never stops thinking
about you, about your dreams, about your dignity, about your opportunity, about your family.
Dad knows that family is everything. When Hunter and I lost our brother Bo to cancer
in 2015, the grief and the pain felt like it might never end. Dad had the capacity to step out
of his own pain and absorb ours. And I know that Bo is here with us tonight as he is always with us.
After Bo passed, I got this tattoo on my wrist. It says courage, dear heart.
A reminder to myself to keep going, to get back up like my dad has always done.
He has taught me that a courageous heart is a miraculous thing. A courageous heart can heal
a family. A courageous heart can heal a nation and maybe even the world.
And now this election requires the greatest heart of all of us. In 2020, my dad selected Kamala Harris
to beat Donald Trump. And he knows, in 2024, she will beat Donald Trump again.
So tonight, I am asking you, if you stood with us in 2020, call upon your courageous heart.
Stand with us today. Work harder than you have ever worked before in your life.
This is the fight of our lifetime, our freedom, our democracy, our reproductive rights.
All of this, all of it, is on the ballot. And I know, together, we can do this.
Because my dad helped show us the way.
And now, I would like to introduce my father, your 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden.
And Governor Lee, he stands here in 1870.
Ever since he moved through the United States as the Dean of the United States,
why do you do this?
And I'm at your side
This is my planet
My father's a friend
What's that do?
I assume it's on it
And you know what we love us
So this face is dead
That's why we love
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Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I love you.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you.
That was my daughter.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
I'll tell you what, to my dearest daughter Ashley, God's love you, you're incredible.
Thank you for your introduction and for being my courageous heart, along with Hunter and our entire family, and especially our rock, Jill, who is those of you who know us, she still leaves me both breathless and speechless.
Everybody knows her, I love her more than she loves me.
She walks down the stairs and I still get that going boom, boom, boom, boom.
You all will know me now, I'm kidding.
Let's give a special round of applause to our first lady, Jill Biden.
My dad, my dad used to have an expression for real, he'd say, Joey, family is the beginning, the middle, and the end.
And I love you all, folks.
And America, I love you.
Folks, let me ask you, let me ask you, are you ready to vote for freedom?
Are you ready to vote for democracy and for America?
Let me ask you, are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz?
My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, nearly four years ago, can winter on the step to the Capitol on a cold January day,
I raised my right hand, and I swore an oath to you and to God to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution,
and to faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States.
In front of me, in front of me was the city surrounded by the National Guard behind me.
A Capitol, there's two weeks before, and a little run by a violent mob.
But I knew then, from the bottom of my heart that I knew now, there is no place in America for political violence.
None.
You cannot say you love your country only when you win.
In that moment, I was looking to the past, I was looking to the future.
I spoke to the work at hand.
In the moment we had to meet, it was as I told you then, a winter of peril and possibility, of peril and possibility.
We're in the grip of a once-in-a-century pandemic, historic joblessness, a call for racial justice long overdue,
and clear, and present threats to our very democracy.
Thank you.
And yet, now that I believe then, and I believe now, the progress was and is possible, just as is achievable.
And our best days are not behind us, they're before us.
Now, it's summer.
The winter has passed, and with a grateful heart, I stand before you now on this August night to report that democracy has prevailed.
Democracy.
Democracy has delivered, and now democracy must be preserved.
You've heard me say it before, we're facing an inflection point.
One of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come.
That's not hyperbole, I mean it literally.
We're in a battle for the very sole America.
I ran for President of 2020 because of what I saw in Charlottesville in August of 2017.
Extremists coming out of the woods carrying torches, their veins bulging from their necks, carrying Nazi swastikas, and chanting the same exact anti-Semitic bile that was heard in Germany in the early thirties.
Neo-Nasi's white supremacists in the Ku Klux Klan saw him bolded by a president dead in the White House that they saw as an ally.
They didn't even bother to wear their hoods.
Hate was on the march in America.
Old ghosts and new garments, stirring up the oldest divisions, stoking the oldest fears, giving oxygen to the oldest forces that they long sought to tear apart America.
And the process a young woman was killed.
When a contactor and mother asked about what happened, she told me.
When the president was asked what he thought had happened, Donald Trump said and I quote,
there are very fine people on both sides, my God.
That's what he said.
That is what he said and what he meant.
That's what I realized.
Had to listen to the admonition of my dead son.
I could not stay in the sidelines.
So I ran because I had no intention of running again.
I just lost part of my soul.
But I ran with a deep conviction.
In America, I know and believe in an America where honesty, dignity, decency still matter.
In America, where everyone has a fair shot and hate has no safe harbor.
In America, where the fundamental created this nation, that all of us are created equal, is still very much alive and a broad coalition of Americans joined with me.
81 million voters voted for us, more than any time in all of history.
Because of all of you in this room and others, we came together in 2020 to save democracy.
As your president, I've been determined to keep America moving forward, not going back,
to stand against hate and violence in all its forms, to be a nation where we not only live with and but thrive on diversity,
demonizing no one, leaving no one behind and becoming a nation that we profess to be.
I also ran to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class.
I made a commitment to you that I be a president of all Americans.
Whether you voted for me or not, we have done that.
Studies show the major bills we have passed actually delivered more to red states than blue,
because the job of the president is delivered to all of America.
Because of you, and I'm not exaggerating because of you, we've had one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period.
And I say we, I mean Kamala and me.
Just think about it.
COVID no longer controls our lives.
We've gone from economic crisis to the strongest economy in the entire world.
Record 60 million new jobs, record small business growth, record high stock market, record high 401Ks,
wages up and inflation down, way down and continuing to go down.
The smallest racial wealth gap in 20 years.
And yes, we both know we have more to do, but we're moving in the right direction.
More Americans have peace of mind that comes from having health insurance.
More Americans have health insurance today than ever before in American history.
And after, as a young senator beginning to fight, beginning to fight for 50 years to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices,
we finally beat big pharma.
And as you cast the tie-breaking vote, Vice President soon to be President Kamala Harris.
And now it's the law of the land.
Instead of paying $400 a month, we're an institute of diabetes.
We'll pay 35 a month.
The law we passed already includes the start of January.
Every senior's total prescription cost can be capped at $2,000 no matter how expensive the drugs they have.
And what we don't focus on, and our Republican friends don't seem to understand,
our reforms don't just save seniors money, they save the American taxpayers money.
You know what we just passed saved?
It saved $160 billion over the next decade.
That's not hyperbole.
It's because Medicare no longer has to pay those exorbitant prices to the big pharma.
But look, vote.
Thank you, Kamala, too.
Look, folks, how can we have the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world?
Donald Trump promised infrastructure a week, every week for four years, and he never built a damn thing.
And now, because of what Kamala have done, remember we're told we couldn't get it done.
Remember when we came in office, we couldn't get anything passed?
But right now, we're giving America an infrastructure decade, not week.
We're modernizing our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our trains, our buses.
Removing every lead pipe from schools and homes so every child can do clean water.
We're providing affordable high-speed internet for every American,
no matter where they live, not unlike what Roosevelt did with electricity.
And so much more.
We are united in the country.
We're growing our economy.
We're improving our quality of life.
And we're building a better America.
Because that's who we are.
How can we be the strongest nation in the world without leading the world in science and technology?
After years of importing 90% of our semiconductor chips from abroad, which America invented at those chips,
our Chips in Science Act meant the private companies from around the world
are now investing literally tens of billions of dollars to build new chip factories right here in America.
And over that period they'll create tens of thousands of jobs.
And many of those jobs in the so-called fabs, the building that make the chips,
that's being constructed now.
And guess what?
The average salary in those fabs, size of the football field,
will be over $100,000 a year and you don't need a college degree.
Because of you and so many electives out there, America manufacturing is back.
Where the hell to say we wouldn't lead the world of manufacturing?
800,000 new manufacturing jobs.
Our Republican friends and others made sure they'd go abroad to get the cheapest labor.
We used to import products and export jobs.
Now we export American products and create American jobs right here in America,
where jobs belong.
With every new job, with every new factory, pride and hope is being brought back to communities
throughout the country that were left behind.
You know you're from many of you.
You know what it's like when that factory closed, or your mother, your father, your grandmother,
grandfather worked.
And now you're back, providing once again proving the Wall Street didn't build America,
the middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.
It's been my view since I came to the Senate.
And that's why I'm proud to have been the first president to walk a picket line.
I'm labeled the most pro-union president history, and I accept it.
It's a fact.
Because unions do well, we all do well.
You got it, man.
You got it.
I agree.
I'm proud.
Look, remember at all we couldn't get anything done because we couldn't get anything done
in the Congress?
With your support, we passed the most significant climate law in the history of mankind.
Over $370 billion.
Cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030.
Launching a climate core, similar to AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, creating tens of thousands
of jobs for young people in the future who are going to make sure this continues.
Creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and clean energy for American workers, including
the IBEW installing 500,000, 500,000 charging stations all across America.
And in the process, reducing carbon emissions.
And we're seeing it.
We're seeing to it that the first beneficiaries of environmental initiatives are those fence
line communities that have been smothered by the legacy of pollution.
Louisiana and Delaware.
Route 9.
All factors, all those chemical factors are right next to the poorest neighborhoods.
They're the ones we're going to bring back.
And how?
How can we be the greatest nation in the world without the best education system in the world?
Donald Trump and the Republican friends, and I don't think they can't read very well.
Seriously, think about it.
Look at their project 2025.
You want to do away with the part of education.
Well, during the pandemic, Kamala and I helped states and cities get back their schools back
open.
And we gave public school teachers a raise.
We created apprenticeships with businesses and communities, putting students on a path to
clean job, whether or not they go to college.
And by the way, we're making college a hell of a lot more affordable.
Increasing Pell Grants by $900.
Over $15 billion for HPCUs.
Minority servants, including Hispanic institutions, and tribal colleges.
We kept our commitment to provide more student relief than ever by lifting the burden of helping
millions of families so they can get married, start a family, buy home, and begin to build
family wealth and contribute to the community.
And grow our economy.
It's not costing us, it's creating more wealth.
We fundamentally transformed how our economy grows.
From the middle out and the bottom up, instead of the top down.
You know, my dad, you say there wasn't a whole hell of a lot to drop down on my kitchen table
at the end of the month.
I come from a basic middle class family.
Three bedroom house, four kids of grandpop living with us.
Decent neighborhood, but never a penny to spare.
And look, that top down notion never worked.
A lot of Democrats didn't think it was the thought it worked, but it doesn't.
And when we did all that, what we've done, everybody can do well.
Everybody.
Donald Trump calls America a failing nation.
No, I'm serious.
But think about this.
Think about this.
He publicly says to the whole world, I'm going to say something outrageous, I know more
foreign leaders by their first names and know them well than anybody live.
Just because I'm so damn old.
But I'm not joking.
Think of the message he sends around the world when he talks about America being a
failing nation.
He says we're losing.
He's the loser.
He's dead wrong.
Many of you are very successful people who travel the world.
Name me a country in the world that doesn't think we're the leading nation in the world.
Without America, not a joke.
Think about it.
I'm being literal.
Who can lead the world other than the United States of America?
But guess what?
America's winning, and the world's better off for it.
America is more prosperous, and America is safer today than they're under Donald Trump.
Trump continues to lie about crime in America, like everything else.
Guess what?
On his watch, the murder rate went up 30 percent the biggest increase in history.
Meanwhile, we made the largest investment common lie in public safety ever.
Now, the murder rate is falling faster than any time in history.
Violent crime has dropped to the lowest level of more than 50 years, and crime will keep
coming down when we put a prosecutor in the Oval Office instead of a convicted felon.
Folks, the distinguished senator from the C. Senator from California and I passed the
first ban on assault weapons.
And guess what, it worked.
If we care about public safety, we need to prevent gun violence.
And it makes me ashamed when I travel the world, which I do.
More children in America are killed by a gunshot than any other cause in the United States.
Never die from a bullet than cancer accidents, anything else, in the United States of America.
My God.
That's why Kamala and I are proud.
We beat the NRA when we passed the first major bipartisan gun safety around 30 years.
I'm serious.
It comes from here.
And now it's time to ban the assault weapons again.
And demand universal background checks.
It's hard.
I never thought I'd stand before a crowd of Democrats and refer to a president as a liar so many times.
No, I'm not trying to be funny.
It's sad.
Trump continues to lie about the border.
Here's what he won't tell you.
Trump killed the strongest bipartisan border dealer in the history of the United States.
That we negotiated with the Senate Republicans for four weeks.
Once it passed, I never acknowledged those expansive border change in American history.
He called senators to say, don't support the bipartisan bill.
He said it would help me politically and hurt him politically.
My God.
No, I'm serious.
Think about it.
Not a joke.
Ask him if the President doesn't like me.
They'll tell you that's true.
Typically Trump, once again, put in himself first and America last.
Then I had to take executive action.
The result of the executive action I took, border encounters have dropped over 50 percent.
In fact, there are fewer borders crossing the day than when Donald Trump left office.
And unlike Trump, we will not demonize immigrants.
Saying they're the poison of blood of America.
Poison the blood of our country.
Kamalaar committed the strengthening of legal immigration, including protecting dreamers and more.
And here's what else I believe in.
Protecting your freedom.
You're freedom to vote.
You're freedom to love who you love.
And you're freedom to choose.
It's a decision over turning the Roe v. Wade that you heard earlier tonight.
The United States Supreme Court majority wrote the following.
Quote, women are not without electrical, not allowed.
There's not without electoral or political power.
No kidding.
Maguery public has found out the power of women in 2022.
And Donald Trump is going to find out the power of women in 2024.
Watch.
And we're Trump.
And as Maguery public and right wingers seek to erase history, we Democrats continue to
write history and make more history.
I'm proud.
I'm proud.
I've kept my commitment to appoint the first black woman in the United States Supreme Court.
Katanji Brown Jackson.
The symbol for every young woman in America that you can do anything.
I'm proud that I've kept my commitment to having an administration that looks like America
and that taps in the full talent of our nation.
Most diverse cabinet in history, including the first black woman in South Asian descent to serve as Vice President.
And will soon serve as the 47th President of the United States.
She is good.
Look.
Thank you Kamala.
I've long said we have many obligations as a nation.
But I got in trouble years ago for saying I'd make no apologies.
We have only one truly sacred obligation to prepare and equip those we send to war and care for them and their families when they come home and when they don't.
That's why I'm so proud that I've written and signed the PACDAQ.
One of the most significant laws ever helping veterans and their families expose the toxic materials like burn pits in Asian orange.
I was around during the Vietnam War.
It's hard.
Nobody was able to prove that their illness was a consequence of Asian orange.
And no one was able to prove initially that because they lived in burn pits like my son lived next to in Iraq for a year, that is the cause of the illness.
But because of the PACDAQ, a surviving spouse to two children is now eligible for a stipend about $3,000 a month.
And those children who lost a parent are eligible for tuition benefits to go to college and to get job training.
It's already helping over 1 million veterans and their families just so far.
I love them and I'm so proud of my son's service.
We get it.
But guess who doesn't get it and doesn't respect our veterans.
We know from his own chief of staff before our General John Kelly that Trump went in Europe would not go to the grave sites in one of France.
The brave service members who gave their lives in this country, he called them suckers and losers.
Who in the hell does he think he is?
Who does he think he is?
There's no words for a person.
There are not the words of a person not worthy of being a Commander-in-Chief, period.
Not then, not now and not ever.
I mean that.
I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
Just as no Commander-in-Chief should ever bow down to a dictator.
The way Trump bows down to Putin.
I never have, and I promise you, Kamala Harris will never do it.
Will never bow down.
When Trump left office, Europe and NATO was in tatters.
Not a joke.
America first doctrine changed our whole image in the world.
Well I spent, they gave the hours about 190 hours some total living in my counterparts who had just stayed in Europe to strengthen NATO.
We did.
We united Europe.
Like it hadn't been in United for years, adding Finland and Sweden to NATO.
It was crazy before he died, Henry Kissinger called and said, not sense, not sense Napoleon as Europe not looked over their shoulder at Russia with dread.
Until now, until now.
Well guess what?
Putin thought he'd take Kiev in three days.
Three years later Ukraine is still free.
When I came to office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably surpass the United States.
They haven't noticed no one saying that now.
Now we'll keep working to bring hostages home and end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security to the Middle East.
As you know, I wrote a peace treaty for Gaza.
A few days ago I put forward a proposal that brought us closer to doing that than we've done since October 7th.
We're working around the clock, my Secretary of State, to rent a wider war and reunite hostages with their families and surge humanitarian health and food assistance into Gaza now.
Ten.
The civilian suffering of the Palestinian people.
And finally, finally, finally deliver a ceasefire and end this war.
Those protesters out in the street, they have a point.
A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.
Just as we worked around the clock to bring home wrongfully detained Americans and others from Russia,
one of the most complicated swaps in history, but they're home.
Come on, I'm going to keep working to bring all Americans wrongfully defying around the world home.
I mean it.
Folks, I've got five months left in my presidency.
I've got a lot to do.
I intend to get it done.
I intend to honor my lifetime to serve as your President.
I love the job, but I love my country more.
I love my country more.
I love all this talk about how I'm angry with all those people who said I should step down.
That's not true.
Thank you.
I love my country more and we need to preserve our democracy.
In 2024, we need you to vote.
We need you to keep the Senate.
We need you to win back the House of Representatives.
And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump.
Now what?
Come on, Tim.
President.
And Vice President of the United States of America.
Look, they'll continue to lead America forward, creating more jobs, standing there for workers, growing the economy,
lower the cost of American families so they just have a little more breathing room.
We made incredible progress.
We have more work to do.
And Kamala and Tim will continue to take on corporate greed and bring down cost of food.
They'll keep taking on big farm and making insulin $35 a month, not just for seniors, but for everyone in America.
And caffeine prescription drug costs a total of $2,000, not just for seniors, but for everyone.
And folks, that's going to save America again.
Tens of billions of dollars.
Folks.
They'll make housing more affordable.
Building 3 million new homes.
Writing $25,000 down payment assistance for the first time home buyer.
More than the 10-way approved.
Donald Trump wants new tax on the poor to goods.
Food, gas, clothing, and more.
You know what that would cost the average family according to the experts?
$3,900 a year in a tax.
No, that's a fact.
Kamala and Tim will make the child care tax for the permanent.
Lifting millions of children out of poverty and helping millions of families get ahead.
You know what Trump has?
He created the largest debt any President had in four years with his $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy.
Well, Trump has a new plan.
He wants to provide a $5 billion tax cut for corporations that are very wealthy.
Read it.
Put us further in debt.
Folks, you know we have $1,000 billionaires in America.
You know what their average tax rate they pay?
8.2%.
If we just increased our taxes, we proposed the 25% which isn't the highest tax rate even.
They would raise $500 billion new dollars over 10 years.
They'd still be very wealthy.
Look, Kamala and Tim are going to make them pay their fair share.
They'll protect Social Security Medicare.
Trump wants to cut Social Security Medicare.
Kamala and Tim will protect your freedom.
They'll protect your right to vote.
They'll protect your civil rights.
And you know Trump will do everything to ban abortion nationwide.
Oh, he will.
You know Kamala and Tim will do everything they possibly can.
That's why you have to elect a senator in the house to restore Roe v. Wade.
The Angie Greeks taught us that character is destiny.
Character is destiny.
For me and Jill, we know Kamala and Doug, our people of character,
it's been our honor to serve alongside them.
And we know that Tim and Gwen, Walt, are also people of great character.
Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made when I became our nominee.
And it was the best decision I made my whole career.
We've not only gotten to know each other, we've become close friends.
She's tough. She's experienced.
And she has enormous integrity, enormous integrity.
Her story represents the best American story.
And like many of our best presidents, she was also Vice President.
That's a joke.
But she'll be a president our children can look up to.
She'll be a president respected by world leaders because she already is.
She'll be a president we can all be proud of.
And she will be an historic president who puts her stamp on America's future.
This will be the first presidential election since January 6th.
On that day, we almost lost everything about who we are as the country.
And that threat, this is not hyperbole.
That threat is still very much alive.
Donald Trump says he will refuse to accept the election result if he loses again.
Think about that. He means it. Think about that.
He's promising the bloodbath if he loses in his words.
And that he'll be a dictator on day one in his own words.
By the way, this sucker means it.
No, I'm not joking. Think about it.
Anybody else said that in the past, you think he is crazy, but you're thinking it was an exaggeration, but he means it.
We can't let that happen.
Folks, all of us carry a special obligation.
Independence, Republicans, Democrats.
We saved democracy in 2020, and now we must save it again in 2024.
The road to each of us cast this year will determine whether democracy and freedom will prevail.
It's that simple. It's that serious.
And the power is literally in your hands.
History is in your hands.
Not hyperbole. It's in your hands.
America's future is in your hands.
Let me close with this.
Nowhere else in the world could a kid with a stutter and modest beginnings in his grandfence of ancient claymont Delaware.
Grow up to sit behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office.
That's because America is and always has been
a nation of possibilities.
Possibilities. We must never lose that.
Never.
Carmel and Tim understand that this nation must continue to be a place of possibilities, not just for the few of us, but for all of us.
But join me in promising your whole heart to this effort, and where my heart will be.
I promise I'll be the best volunteer.
Harris and Waltz have came and have ever seen.
Each of us has a part in the American story.
For me and my family, there's a song that means a lot to us, that captures the best of who we are as a nation.
The song is called American Anthem.
There's one verse that stands out, and I can't sing with a dance, I'm not going to try.
I'll just quote it.
The work and prayers of centuries have brought us to this day.
What shall our legacy be?
What will our children say?
Let me know in my heart what my days are through.
America, America, I gave my best to you.
I made a lot of mistakes in my career.
But I gave my best to you.
For 50 years, like many of you, I've given my heart and soul to our nation.
And I've been blessed a million times in return to the support of the American people.
I've really been too young to be in this Senate because I wasn't 30 yet, and too old to stay as president.
But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.
I can honestly say, and I mean this in the bond, giving my word as a Biden.
I can honestly say I'm more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States Senator.
I mean it.
Folks, we just have to remember who we are.
We're the United States of America.
And there's nothing we cannot do when we do it together.
God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.
Thank you.
God bless you all.
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Please stand if you were able
for this evening's benediction
offered by Rabbi Michael Beals
and pastor Cindy Rudolph.
Wendy Rudolf.
Tonight's convention theme for the people, hint at the inclusive, bridge-building messages
and policies the Democratic Party will require to succeed not only in November, but long
after that.
No prayer better unites Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others of faith along with Democrats,
Republicans, independents, and undecideds that the three-fold priestly colonized benediction
presented in the Bible.
It is divided into three in order to shower the following blessings of gratitude, hoda-ah,
upon my fellow Delawarean, President Joe Biden, for more than 50 years of selfless, effective
public service.
Joy Simcha in public discourse and policy encouraged by Governor Tim Walz and Light, or combined
with freedom, k-root inspired by Vice President Kamala Harris' vision for America.
These respond in unity with a heart that all mane after each of these three ancient Hebrew
benedictions.
May God deal kindly and graciously with you.
May God turn toward you, ungrat you that most precious gift, the gifted of wholeness, and
the gift of peace, and let us say a heartfelt amen.
Most gracious, kind, and loving God, we thank you for this tremendous gathering of people
invested in our nation's progress.
Lord, as we look upon our leadership, we see what you require of us.
To do justice, like the justice Vice President Harris, has championed her entire career.
To love mercy, like the mercy Governor Walz has modeled as a lifelong public servant and
educator, and to walk humbly like the humility President Biden has embodied with decades
of outstanding servant leadership.
Oh, God, as we strive to work for the people, we pray you will unite our nation.
Help us to choose hope over hostility, compassion over callousness, and liberty over tyranny.
We recognize that we are living through paradoxical times, times that are precarious, yet promising.
But through God who gives us beauty for ashes, all things are possible.
Lord, bless the work of our hands until the weak and meek become purposeful and powerful.
And until the marginalized and disenfranchised become energized and mobilized, inspire us
to stand with our fellow Americans so this nation will be a light that shines for you.
In the name of our loving and redeeming God, we pray, amen.
Thank you.
Night one of the Democratic National Convention has officially come to an end.
At an incredible day, thank you President Biden from the bottom of my heart.
You have restored the soul of our nation.
You have given us all hope.
The chair will now entertain a motion to recess our convention until Tuesday, August 20th
at 6 p.m.
Is there a second?
All in flavor, please signify by saying aye all opposed.
The ayes have it.
We'll see you tomorrow night everybody.