DNC 2024 LIVE | Democratic National Convention 2024 Chicago LIVE | DNC Convention 2024 LIVE | N18G

we don't get to change the rules so we always win if we see a mountain in front of us we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top no we put our heads down we get to work in America we do something and throughout her entire life that's what we've seen from kamla Harris the steel of her spine the steadiness of her upbringing the honesty of her example and yes the joy of her laughter and her light it couldn't be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race only kamla Harris truly understands the Unseen labor and unw Bel in commitment that has always made America great now unfortunately we know what comes next we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth my husband and I sadly know a little something about this for years Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardwork and highly educated successful people who happen to be black wait I I I want to know I want to know who's going to tell him who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs look it's his same old con his same old con doubling down on ugly misogynistic racist lives as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better look because cutting our health care taking away our freedom to control our bodies the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives mothers and daughters shutting down the Department of Education Banning our books none of that will prepare our kids for the future demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love look that doesn't make anybody's life better instead instead it only makes us small and let me tell you this going small is never the answer going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids going small is petty it's unhealthy and quite frankly it's unpresidential so why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office why would we normalize that type of backward leadership doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics it only serves to further discourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America our parents taught us better than that and we deserve so much better than that that's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people there is no other choice than kamla Harris and Tim Walls no other choice but as we Embrace this renewed sense of hope let us not forget the despair we have felt let us not forget what we are up against yes kamla and Tim are doing great now we're loving it they're packing Arenas across the country folks are energized we are feeling good but remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome who are ready to question and criticize every move kamla makes who are eager to spread those lies who don't want to vote for a woman who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring that everyone has enough so no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day this is going to be an uphill battle so folks we cannot be our own worst enemies no see cuz the minute something goes wrong the minute a lie takes hold folks we cannot start ringing our hands we cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right and we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect some like kamla instead of doing everything we can to get someone like kamla elected kamla and Tim they have lived amazing lives and I I am confident that they will lead with compassion inclusion and Grace but they are still only human they are not perfect and like all of us they will make mistakes but luckily y'all this is not just on them Noah uh-uh this is up to us all of us to be the solution that we seek it's up to all of us to be the anecdote to the darkness and division look I don't care how you I identify politically whether you're Democrat Republican independent or none of the above this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right to stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and Humanity for basic respect dignity and empathy for the values at the very Foundation of this democracy it's up to us to remember what kamla's mother told her don't just sit around and complain do something so if they lie about her and they will we've got to do something if we see a bad poll and we will we got to put down that phone and do something if we start feeling tired if we start feeling that dread creeping back in we got to pick ourselves up throw water on our face and what we only have two and a half months y'all to get this done only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan so we cannot afford for anyone anyone anyone America to sit on their hands and wait to be called don't complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask you for your support there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness you know what you need to do so consider this to be your official ask Michelle Obama is asking you no I'm telling y'all to do something [Applause] because you all this election is going to be close in some state just a handful listen to me a handful of votes in every Precinct could decide the winner so we need to vote in numbers that have RAs any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us our fate is in our hands in 77 days we have the power to turn our country away from the fear Division and smallness of the past we have the power to marry our hope with our action we have the power to pay forward the love sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us we did it before y'all and we sure can do it again let us work like our lives depend on it and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher yes always higher than we've ever gone before as we elect the next president and vice president of the United States KLA Harris and Tim Walls thank you all God bless w w w lot of energy in this room just like there is across the country something something is happening in America you can feel it something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time first though let's salute President [Applause] Biden he he has been democracy's champion at home and abroad he brought dignity decency and confidence back to the White House and he showed what it means to be a true patriot thank you Joe Biden for your lifetime of service and Leadership and now and now we are writing a new chapter in America's story you know my mother Dorothy was born right here in Chicago before women had the right to vote that changed 104 years ago yesterday think about it Tennessee became the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution the state legislature was deadlocked until one lawmaker's mother a widow who read three newspapers a day sent a letter A letter to her son no more delays she wrote give us the vote and since that day every generation has carried the torch forward in 1972 a Fearless black congresswoman named Charley Chisum she ran for president and her determination let me and millions of others dream bigger not just because of who she was but because of who she fought for working parents poor children the last the least and the lost in 1984 I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro the first woman nominated for vice president if we can do this Jerry said we can do anything and then there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president and and nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams and afterwards we refused to give up on America Millions marched many ran for office we kept our eyes on the future well my friends the future is here I wish my mother and kamla's mother could see us they would say keep going shley and Jerry would say keep going women women fighting for Reproductive Health Care are saying keep going families building Better Lives parents stretching to afford Child Care young people struggling to pay their rent they're all asking us to keep going [Applause] so with faith in each other and joy in our hearts let's send kamla Harris and Tim Walls to the White House you know the story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible but not guaranteed we have to fight for it and never ever give up there is always a choice do we push forward or pull back come together as we the people or split into US versus them that's the choice we face in this election kamla has the character EXP experience and vision to lead us forward I know her heart and her Integrity we both got our start as young lawyers helping children who were abused and neglected that kind of work changes a person those kids stay with you kamla carries with her the hopes of every child she protected every family she helped every Community she served so as president she will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us she will fight to lower costs for hardworking families open the doors wide for good paying jobs and yes she will restore abortion rights Nationwide as a prosecutor kamla locked up murderers and Drug traffickers she will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and when he woke up he made his own kind of History the first person to run for president with 34 felony [Applause] convictions as vice president as Vice president Kamala sat in the situation [Applause] room but we also know as vice president Comm sat in the situation room and stood for America's values I know what it takes and I can tell you as commander and chief Kamala won't disrespect our military and our veterans she she R our Medal of Honor recipients she won't be sending love letters to dictators she will defend democracy and our Constitution and will protect America from enemies foreign and domestic think about it the Constitution says the president's job is to take care that the laws be Faithfully executed those are the words of our Founders take care just look at the candidates Cent cares cares about kids and families cares about America Donald only cares about [Applause] himself on her first day in court kamla said five words that still guide her kamla Harris for the people that is something that Donald Trump will never understand so it is no surprise is it that he is lying about K's record he's mocking her name and her laugh sounds familiar but we have him on the run now so so no matter what the polls say we can't let up we can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes we have to fight for the truth we have to fight for kamla as she will fight for us because you know what it still takes a village to raise a family heal a country and win a campaign and America needs every one of us our energy our our talents our dreams we're not just electing a president we're uplifting our nation we're opening the promise of America wide enough for everyone together we put a lot of cracks in the highest hardest glass ceiling and tonight tonight so close to breaking through once and for all I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us what do I see I see freedom I see the freedom to make our own decisions about our health Our lives our loves our families the freedom to work with dignity and prosper to worship as we choose or not to speak our minds freely and honestly I see Freedom From Fear and intimidation from violence and Injustice from chaos and Corruption I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say America you can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you and mean it and you know what on the other side of that glass ceiling is kamla Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States because my friends when a barrier Falls for one of us it falls it falls and clears the way for all of us so for the next 78 days we need to work harder than we ever have we need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life don't get distracted or complacent talk to your friends and Neighbors volunteer be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love I want I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment that we were here and that we were with kamla Harris every step of the way this is our time America this is when we stand up this is when we break through the future is here it's in our grasp let's go with it I'm Adam kininger and I am proud to be in the trenches with you and as part of this sometimes awkward Alliance that we have to defend truth defend democracy and decency I was just a kid when I re was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan to his vision of a strong America The Shining City on a Hill I was a republican for 12 years in Congress and I still hold on to the label I never thought I'd be here but listen you never thought thought you'd see me here did you but I've learned something about the Democratic party and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret the Democrats are as patriotic as us they they love this country just as much as we do and they and they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been I was relieved to discover that because I've learned something about my party too something I couldn't ignore the Republican party is no longer conservative it has switched its Allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong he is a small man pretending to be big he's a faithless man pretending to be righteous he's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim he puts on listen he he he puts on quite a show but there is no real strength there as a conservative and a veteran I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable it's it's in protecting your family it's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy that that is the soul of being a conservative it used to be the soul of being a republican but Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party his fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness sapping our strength sof ing our spine whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a Siege on the United States capital that day I stood witness to a profound sorrow the desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition of power tarnished by a Man Too fragile too vain and too weak to accept defeat how can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election how how can a party claim to stand for Liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine an attack pitting tyranny against democracy a challenge to everything our nation claims to be and it treats it equivocates it nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin and his running mate his running mate who said quote I don't care what happens in Ukraine yeah he wants to be vice president yeah how can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forbear has fought for men like my grandfather who served in World War II who believed in a cause bigger than himself and he risked his life for it Behind Enemy Lines to preserve American democracy his generation Found the courage to face down armies listen all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man some some have questioned some have questioned why I've taken the stand I have the answer is really simple ladies and gentlemen we must put country first and tonight and tonight as a republican speaking before you I'm putting our country first because the fact is I do belong here I know ala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law the Constitution and democracy and she is dedicated to upold upholding all three in service to our country whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle of decency and of fidelity to this nation listen to my fellow Republicans if you still pledge allegiance to those principles I suspect you belong here too because because democracy knows no party it's a it's a living breathing ideal that defines us as a nation it's the Bedrock that separates us from tyranny and when that Foundation is is fractured we must all Stand Together United to strengthen it if you think those principles are worth defending then I urge you make the right choice vote vote for our Bedrock values and vote for kamla Harris God bless you hello fellow Americans I'm Gabby gers I was born in the great state of Arizona I would was born with grit I grew up racing motorcycles McKing stalls and exploring the beautiful desert I fell for an astronaut for five years I served in Congress from a swing District everybody called me a rising star then on January 8th 2011 amandre tried to assassinate me he shot 19 people he killed six terrible terrible day I almost died but I fought for my life and I survived I learned to walk again one step at a time I learned to talk again one word at a time so many people help me as I worked hard to recover including a decent man for Delaware who always checked in he still does thank you Joe Biden thank you for everything Joe is a great president my friend Kamala will be a great president she is tough she he has grit kamla can beat the gun lobby she can fight gun trafficking Pamela stood up to Wall Street on the drug company she will protect abortion access she will defend our freedom she Sav lives join me in in voting for kamla Harris bra thank you I'm Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Lancing they call me Governor but in Detroit they call me big gret Donald Trump called me that woman from Michigan as an insult being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor like women across America we just GSD get stuff done at 29 I joined the sandwich generation sandwich between working and raising my newborn and caring for my mom who was dying from brain cancer it was hard but not extraordinary it's life those nights reminded me who I was fighting for people just trying to make it kamla Harris knows who she's fighting for too she took care of her mom who also battled cancer as president she'll fight to low the cost of Health Care and elder care for every family she's lived a life like ours she knows us Donald Trump doesn't know you at all you think he understands that when your car breaks down you can't get to work no his first word was probably chauffeur [Applause] you think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out hell you think he's ever been to a grocery store that's what the chauffeur is for but kamla Harris she gets us she sees us she is us look we've all lived through a lot of history over the past few years floods and fires an attempted coup a plot and a pandemic it's exhausting we don't know what the next four years will bring but what we do know is this through it all your life won't stop you're going to have to get to work pick up the kids and pay your bills and then one day when you're just trying to get everyone out the door a news alert goes off something happened something hit the fan you'll ask is my family going to be okay and then you'll ask who the hell is in charge what if it's him what what if it's that man from Marl Argo I know in a crisis we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan to tell the truth and to bring people together right now before the crisis is when we get to choose why wouldn't we choose the leader who's tough tested and a total badass I know who I want as our commanderin-chief America let's choose kamla Harris the California good evening everyone good evening good evening oh my goodness good evening everyone good evening good good evening thank you thank you thank you good evening thank you thank you thank thank you thank thank you thank you everyone thank you thank you thank you thank you all thank you all okay we got to get to some business we got to get to some business okay thank you all okay thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you please thank you please thank you so very much thank you everyone thank you everyone thank you okay let's get to business let's get to business all right so let me start by thanking my most incredible husband [Music] Doug for being an incredible partner to me an incredible father to Cole and Ella and happy anniversary douge I love you so very much to our President Joe Biden when I think about the path that we have traveled together Joe I am filled with gratitude your record is extraordinary as history will show and your character is inspiring and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both and to coach Tim Walls you are going to be an incredible vice president and to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign your support is humbling so America the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected but I'm no stranger to unlikely Journeys so my mother our mother shamala Harris had one of her own and I miss her every day and especially right now and I know she's looking down smiling I know that so my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would Cure breast cancer when she finished school she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage but as fate would have it she met my father Donald Harris a student from Jamaica they they fell in love and got married and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and Me growing up we moved a lot I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings ready to go to Illinois to Wisconsin and wherever our parents' jobs took us my early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones a home filled with laughter and music artha Cole train and miles at the Park my mother would say stay close but my father would say as he smiled run CA run Don't Be Afraid don't let anything stop you from my earliest years he taught me to be Fearless but the harmony between my parents did not last when I was in elementary school they split up and it was mostly my mother who raised us before she could finally afford to buy a home she rented a small apartment in the East Bay in the bay in the bay you either live in the Hills or the flat lands we lived in the flats a beautiful workingclass neighborhood of firefighters nurses and construction workers all who tended their lawns with pride my mother she worked long hours and like many working parents leaned on a trusted Circle to help raise us Mrs Shelton who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother Uncle Sherman Aunt Mary Uncle Freddy aunti Chris none of them family by Blood and all of them them family by love family who taught us how to make gumbo how to play chess and sometimes even let us win family Who Loved Us believed in us and told us we could be anything and do anything they instilled in us the values they personified Community faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated with kindness respect and compassion my mother was a brilliant 5 foot tall brown woman with an accent and as the eldest child as the eldest child I saw how the world would sometimes treat her but my mother never lost her cool she was tough courageous a Trailblazer in the fight for Women's Health and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night she taught us to never complain about Injustice but do something about it do something about it that was my mother and she taught us and she always she also taught us and she also taught us and never do anything half asked and that is a direct quote a direct quote I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement my my parents had met at a civil rights Gathering and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders including the lawyers like thur Good Marshall and con Constance Baker Motley those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America so at a young age I decided I wanted to do that work I wanted to be a lawyer and when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life you see when I was in high school I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda she was sad at school and there were times she didn't want to go home so one day I asked if everything was all right and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather and I immediately told her she had to come stay with us and she did this is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety to dignity and to Justice as a prosecutor when I had a case I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people for a simple reason in our system of justice a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us and I would often explain this to console survivors of crime to remind them no one one should be made to fight alone we are all in this together and every day in the courtroom I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words KLA Harris for the [Music] people and to be clear and to be clear my entire career I've only had one client the people and so on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party race gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely Journey on behalf of of Americans like the people I grew up with people who work hard chase their dreams and look out for one another on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest Nation on Earth I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America and with this election and and with this election our nation our nation with this election has a precious fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness cynicism and divisive battles of the past a chance to chart a new way forward not not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans and let me say I know there are people of various political views watching tonight and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans you can always trust me to put country above party and self to hold sacred am America's fundamental principles from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power I will be a President Who unites us around our highest aspirations a president who leads and listens who is realistic practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people from the courthouse to the White House that has been my life's work as a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland California I stood up for women and and children against predators who abuse them as Attorney General of California I took on the big Banks delivered $20 billion for middle class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights one of the first of its kind in the nation I stood up for veterans and students being damned by big for-profit colleges for workers who are being cheated out of their wages the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities and I will tell you these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices we were underestimated at practically every turn but we never gave up because the future is always worth fighting for and that's the fight we are in right now a fight for America's future fellow Americans this election is not only the most important of Our Lives it is one of the most important in the life of our nation in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man but the consequences but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious consider consider not only the chaos and Calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election ction Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes when he failed he sent an armed mob to the United States capital where they assaulted Law Enforcement Officers when politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help he did the opposite he fanned the flame and now for an entirely different set of crimes he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse and consider consider what he intends to do if we give him power again consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the capital his explicit intent to jail journalists political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy his explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens consider consider the power he will have especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from Criminal prosecution just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails and how he would use the IM powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life not to strengthen our national security but to serve the only client he has ever had himself and we know and we know what a second Trump term would look like it's all laid out in Project 2025 written by his closest advisors and its sum total is to pull our country back to the past but America we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare we are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions we are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our Public Schools we are not going to let him end programs like Head Start start that provide preschool and child care for our children America we are not going [Applause] back and we are charting and we are charting a new way forward forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class because we we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America's success and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency and I'll tell you this is personal for me the middle class is where I come from my mother kept a strict budget we lived within our means yet we wanted for little and she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them because as she taught us opportunity is not available to everyone that's why we will create what I call an opportunity economy an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed whether you live in a rural area small town or big city and as president I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries we will provide access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs and Founders and we will end America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare now compare that to Donald Trump because I think everyone here knows he doesn't actually fight for the middle class not he doesn't actually fight for the middle class instead he fights for himself and his billionaire friends and he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to 5 trillion to the national debt and all the while he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax call it a trump tax that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year well instead of a trump tax hike we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans friends I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives especially on matters of heart and home but tonight in America too many women are not able to make those decisions and let's be clear about how we got here Donald Trump handpicked picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom and now he brags about it in his words quote I did it and I'm proud to have done it end quote well I'll tell you over the past two years I've traveled across our country and women have told me their stories husbands and fathers have shared theirs stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot developing sepsis losing the ability to ever again have children all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients couples just trying to grow their family cut off in the middle of IVF treatments children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term this is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump and understand he is not done as a part of his agenda he and his allies would limit access to birth control ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress and get this get this he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions simply put they are out of their minds and one must ask one must ask why exactly is it that they don't trust women well we trust women we trust women and when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive Freedom as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law in this election many other fundamental freedoms are at stake the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools communities and places of worship the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis and the freedom that unlocks all the others the freedom to vote with this election we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the freedom to vote act and let me be clear and let me be clear after decades in law enforcement I know the importance of Safety and Security especially at our border last year Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades the border patrol endorsed it but Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal well I refuse to play politics with our security and here is my pledge to you as president I will bring back the bipartisan Board of security bill that he killed and I will sign it into law I know I know we can live up to our proud Heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system we can create an earned Pathway to citizenship and secure our border and America we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad as vice president I have confronted threats to our security negotiated with foreign leaders strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas as commanderin-chief I will ensure America always has the strongest most lethal fighting force in the world and I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence that America not China wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen not abdicate our Global Leadership Trump on the other hand threatened to abandon NATO he encouraged Putin to invade our allies said Russia could quote do whatever the hell they want five days before Russia attacked Ukraine I met with president zalinski to warn him about Russia's plan to invade I helped mobilize a Global Response over 50 countries to defend against Putin's aggression and as president I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies with respect to the war in Gaza President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a high hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done and let me be clear and let me be clear I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7 including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival at the same time what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating so many innocent lives lost desperate hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again the scale of suffering is heartbreaking President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure the hostages are released the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity security freedom and self-determination and know this I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran backed terrorists I will not Co up to tyrants and dictators like Kim JN on who are rooting for Trump who are rooting for Trump because you know they know they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors they know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself and as president I will never wait in defense of America's security and ideals because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs so fellow Americans fellow Americans I I love our country with all my heart Everywhere I Go Everywhere I Go in every one I meet I see a nation that is ready to move forward ready for the next step in The Incredible Journey that is America I see an America where we hold fast to The Fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world that here in this country anything is possible that nothing is Out Of Reach and America where we care for one another look out for one another and recog recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us that none of us none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed and that in unity there is strength you know our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America talking about how terrible everything is well my mother had another lesson she used to teach never let anyone tell you who you are you show them who you are America let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for Freedom opportunity compassion dignity fairness and Endless Possibilities we are the hirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world and on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty we must be worthy of this moment it is now our turn to do what Generations before us have done God Guided by optimism and Faith to fight for this country we love to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth the privilege and pride of being an American so let's get out there let's fight for it let's get out there let's vote for it and together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary Story Ever Told thank you God bless you and may God bless the United States of America thank got this you know what I love best about kamla Harris KLA Harris can't be bought and she can't be bossed around now I first met kamla in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash the banks had flat out broken laws cheated people and stolen homes Millions millions of Americans had lost their jobs their savings their homes now I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go cfv yeah kamla was protecting families as California's attorney general you bet and Donald was scamming students at Trump University and trying to make money off people losing their homes KLA Harris stepped up she enforced the law she fought the giant Banks and she delivered billions of dollars of help for families and that is the difference between a criminal and a prosecutor you know what else I love about kamla she gets it we need to make life more affordable for working people yeah Donald Trump the Felon has no plans to lower costs for families he doesn't know how and basically he doesn't really care when did he he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill the only bills he worries about are from his criminal defense lawyers but kamla she cares deep down and she will take on the giant corporations that are squeezing American families in fact it's something she's done done before during the California wildfires she went after the price gougers during the pandemic we work together in the Senate to stop price gouging and as president she will lower costs for your family she'll take on the Wall Street firms that buy up millions of houses and apartments and then jack up the road R she'll take on drug companies that charge an arm and a leg for prescriptions she'll take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers and billionaires who don't pay taxes and she'll take on rightwing extremists who think they should decide who has access to a abortion or IVF Kamala will protect abortion rights Nationwide yeah and there it is groceries gas housing Health Care taxes abortion trust Donald Trump and JD fans to look out for your family shoot I wouldn't let those guys I wouldn't trust them to to move my couch we need comma Harris this election is about your family and your future I've seen KLA Harris fight I've seen her win and when it comes to our families and our Futures kamla Harris is someone we can trust so here it is with joy in our hearts let's elect kamla Harris the next president of the United States hello [Applause] Democrats so President Obama had to follow Michelle I had to follow Gabby and pink Gabby amazes me every single day she was able to walk out and address you tonight because she's a fighter and thanks to a team of doctors nurses and especially her speech therapist we all need a team I've flown into space for times I flown into combat nearly 40 times not once did I do that by myself it took a team to accomplish a mission it always does I flew in the Navy during the first Gulf War America rallied our allies to kick out a tyrant who invaded a neighbor today Vladimir Putin is testing whether we're still that strong Iran North Korea and especially China watch closely what's Trump's answer he inv invited Russia to do and these are his words not mine whatever the hell they want vice president Harris has always championed America's support for NATO for [Music] Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people on the Senate intelligence committee she investigated Russian interference in our election she defends free and fair elections everywhere you already know how Trump feels about those Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings he was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of be becoming one [Applause] himself Trump thinks that Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice are suckers and losers if we fall for that again and make him the commanderin-chief the only suckers would be us K Harris know knows that standing with their allies means standing up for Americans she'll keep modernizing our military to support our troops and to support our veterans like our next vice president Tim Walls the world laughs at Trump literally but folks it is not funny when he was president that meant the world was laughing at us the threats we Face are too serious the sacrifices our service members make are too sacred the alliances we've spent decades building are too critical that's what's at stake now and the choice the choice isn't even close but in Arizona and Nationwide this election will be we'll win in the same way we launch rockets into space and land fighter jets on an aircraft carrier as one team on one Mission state by state voter by voter coming together no country no country is better than ours at solving big problems so on November 5th let's prove that America is still the leader the world needs today by the electing the leader we need right now kamla Harris thank you everybody thank you please welcome former Secretary of Defense Leon [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Panetta [Applause] whoa let me ask you for after the last two days aren't you proud to be a Democrat and I am very grateful to the Republicans and independents that have joined us have been up here on the stage and I hope they feel better about it now because I've seen all these things that even I have to be reminded of from time to time when I get my spirits down I love seeing the Obamas here I love seeing President [Music] Biden and I thought Hillary gave a great speech too and uh I love but I I love seeing all these young leaders bunch of of them are coming up after me they look better they sound better and they'll be exciting I do want to say one word about President Biden remember he had an improbable turn that made him president and we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash he healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work and he strengthens our alliances for peace and security he stood up for Ukraine he trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East and then he did something that's really hard for a politician to do he voluntarily gave up political power and George Washington knew that and he did it and he set the standard for us serving two turns before it was mandatory it helped his legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden's Legacy and you and it's a stark contrast to what goes on in the other party so I want to thank him for his courage compassion his class his service his sacrifice Joe Biden thank [Applause] you he kept the faith and he's infected a lot of the rest of us now let's cut to this Chase I am too old to Gil the Lily two days ago I turned 78 the oldest man in my family for generation and the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump last night last night in what I thought was a very moving series of episodes we nominated Comm Harris and Tim Waltz and just think about that two leaders with All-American but still improbable life stories It could only happen here their careers after all started in community courtrooms and classrooms two leaders who spent a lifetime getting the good job done now one of the things that I've noticed over my increasingly long life that a is it a presidential election is unique in several ways first of all it's the greatest job interview for the greatest job in the world secondly the Constitution says We the People people get to do the hiring and the third thing is that every four years we get to change the requirements for the job so here's what I'm thinking because I try to apply this in every election will this President take us backward or forward will this President give our kids a brighter future depends will this President bring us together or tear us apart will the president increase the peace security and stability and freedom that we enjoy and extend it to others as we can we the people we have to make a decision about these kind of questions and every four years it's a little different because the people come up the candidates come at the candidates and they say as they're saying now here are our problems solve them here are our opportunities seize them here are our fears ease them here are our dreams help them come true a president can answer that call by saying I'll do my part but you have to help me we have to work together or you can dodge what needs to be done by dividing distracting and diverting us so in 2024 we got a pretty clear choice it seems to me common Harris for the people and the other guy who's proved even more than the first go round that he's about me myself and I I know which one I like better for our country Comm Harris will work to solve our problems seize our opportunities ease our our fears and make sure every single American however they vote has a chance to chase their dreams you know when she was young she worked at McDonald's and she greeted every person with that thousand wat smile and said how can I help you now she's at the Pinnacle of power and she's still asking how can I help you I will be I'll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald's [Applause] now but we got an election to win and remember we've got a guy that's pretty good at what he does Donald Trump has been a paragon of consistency he's still dividing he's still blaming he's still belittling other people he creates chaos us and then he sort of curates it as if it were precious art let me say not a single day goes by even though I've been gone for well over 23 years from the White House not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what man and one of the reasons thank you wait wait wait one of the reasons one of the reasons I love the job so much is that in the toughest times even on the darkest days if you tried hard enough there was always something good you could do for somebody else now some days that's not easy to do You' got to deal with all these emergencies or there's something going on here there yonder but Comm Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision the experience the temperament the will and yes the sheer joy to get something done I mean look what does your opponent do with his voice he mostly talks about himself right so the next time you hear him don't count the lies count the eyes count the eyes his vendettas his Vengeance his complaints his conspiracies he's like one of those teners opening up before he walks out on stage like I did trying to get his lungs open by singing me me me me me [Applause] me when Cela Harris is President every day we'll begin with you you you you so we got to ask ourselves the questions if we're going to hire a president Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up in the middle out or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd size you're going to have a hard time believing this but so help I triple checked it since the end of the Cold War in 1989 America has created about 51 million new jobs I swear I checked this three times even I couldn't believe it what's the score Democrats 50 Republicans one I'm glad that we've got a championship winning coach on our team but even the most limited of us in what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you're got 50 and the other side's got one you're ahead what about affordable housing it's a terrible problem in America now we need more and affordable health care it's why the Democrats put a limit on monthly payments for insulin and a $22,000 a year out of pocket limit and are trying to cover more drugs by bargaining for prices we need more financing for small businesses we need still to strengthen our alliances I almost croaked in the first debate of this election season when President Trump said nobody respected America anymore like they did when he was president wait wait and with a straight face look you got to give him he's a good actor with a with a straight face he cited as evidence of the respect that existed for us when he was there the presidents of North Korea and Russia I'd rather have the people who respect us now and one of the things one of the things is when you send a signal to the other countries you want them to know whether they agree with you or not at least that you're on the level that here's where you are and what you believe what are they supposed to make to these endless tributes to the late great Hannibal [Applause] Lector I mean President Obama once gave me the great honor of saying I was the explainer and chief folks I thought and thought about it and I I don't know what to say [Applause] like Kim jeffre I too want an America that's more joyful more inclusive more future focused just think what a burden it's been on us to get up day after day after day after day buried and meaningless hot rhetoric when there's so many opportunities out there so many problems that need to be solved I want that and that's the America KLA Harris will she's already made her first presidential decision and she knocked it out of the park when she asked governor of H W to be her nominees for vice president as they used to say uh when I was a young man growing up in Arkansas you do not have to be all broke out with Brilliance you just look at Tim wal listen to him follow his record as a teacher as a coach in the National Guard as a congressman where he was the only Democrat save one elected in that District in more than a hundred years and he stayed a long time and then he became a great governor and by all accounts he was a crackshot Who had the courage among his rural constituents to say we do not need these assault weapons available to people who can kill our kids in school so armed first decision comma Harris confronts an interesting dilemma we're going to walk out of here feeling pretty good I think we've got energy we are happy we feel like it load's off our shoulders and we know we're just being asked to fight the same fight that the forces of progress have had to fight for 250 years in the face of stiff and often violent opposition we have to find a way to go forward together where we the people make our Union more perfect so that's a good thing how could we possibly lose comma Harris has fought for kids their whole life that were left out and left behind she's taken on gangs trafficking across the border she's fought to protect the rights of homeowners she's been our leader in the fight for we productive freedoms and we know a majority of the American people are with us on that and she's gained an invaluable amount of experience as vice president advancing our values and interests around the world she's already said she's going to work really hard to make sure that no American working full-time lives in poverty or has to worry about their children living in poverty he say that we got to make home ownership an achievable dream for everyone not just a privilege she said that it and this meant a lot to me that she would protect everybody's right to vote whether or not they voted for her they were a Citizens and they deserve the right to vote the other day her opponent implied that it's his feet voted people voted one more time they'd be able to rig it from now on and they wouldn't have to vote again you think they're kidding but I know a lot of these folks and most of them are really good people but some of them think that they are bound to dominate America politically economically and socially and they have to use politics to do it and they should rig the system I don't believe that and so here's what I want to tell you we've seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn't happen when people got distracted by phony issues or overc competent this is a brutal tough business I want you to be happy one of the reasons that president to be Harris is doing so well is it were all happy but you should never underestimate your adversary and these people are really good at distracting us at triggering doubt at triggering buyers remorse as the Obama said so eloquently last night they are human you know they're bound to make a mistake now and then we got to be tough and so as somebody who spends a lot of time in small towns and rural areas in New York and Arkansas and other places I I [Music] want I urge you to talk to all your neighbors I urge you to meet people where they are I urge you not to Dem mean them but not to pretend you don't disagree with them if you do treat them with respect just the way you'd like them to treat you ask for their help and then follow our leader camela and ask them how can I help you we Democrats right now have a lot of hay in the bar we've got massive achievements massive advances but there's still a lot of slips between the day and election day that we have to navigate and so I want to say this from the bottom of my heart I have no idea how many more of these I'll be able to come to I started in 76 and I've been to everyone since but no 72 Lord I'm getting old but here's what I want you to know if you vote for this team if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air you will be proud of it for the rest of your life your children will be proud of it your grandchildren will be proud of it take it from a man who once had the honor to be called in this convention the man from hope we need we need camela Harris the president of joy to lead us so I'll be doing my part you do yours I'll see you when we're making a real Joyful Nose noise when the votes are counted God bless you and God bless America hello California hello Maryland hello Democrats on January 20th 2021 with the inauguration of Joe Biden and kamla Harris we established one of the most successful presidencies of modern times and we quickly proved that Democrats deliver rer millions of jobs stronger infrastructure and Rural Broadband a child Aiden child tax credit rescuing human pensions honoring our veterans bold climate action lowering the cost of prescription drugs all thanks to President Biden's patriotic vision of a fair America doing so with liberty and justice for all thank you Joe and I know that vice president Harris is ready to take us to new heights I've known kamla Harris for decades personally I know her a person of deep faith which is reflected in her community care and service officially she is a leader of strength and wisdom and eloquence on policy most recently demonstrated fighting for women's right to choose politically she is astute and strategic in winning difficult elections quickly securing the nomination with dignity and Grace and choosing Tim wals as a our vice president I had the honor of serving with Tim for 12 years in the Congress he United Democrats Republicans and independents to turn a red District blue he showed courage when he came to Congress in voting for the Affordable Care Act meeting the needs of his constituents despite Republicans lies and misrepresentation when he went home won the election he returned to Congress he fought for our Americans Heroes as the Democratic leader of the Veterans Affairs committee thank you Tim January 6th was a perilous moment for our democracy never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the Bedrock of our democracy so gleefully embraced political violence so willfully betrayed his oath of office let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6 he did but let us not forget who saved democracy that day we did and thank God we had a democratic House of Representatives [Applause] then we returned to the capital that very same night we insisted on certifying the election results on the floors of the house and the Senate and we demonstrated to America and to the world that American democracy prevailed the parable of January 6th reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care and we must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections who respect the peaceful transfer of power the choice couldn't be clearer those leaders are vice president Harris and Governor walls when the sun rose on January 7th as our national anthem declares we gave proof through the night that our flag was still there now in this election we are called upon on to do the same to stand together to reject autocracy to choose democracy and we will do so by electing a democratic house with hakeim Jeff as Speaker of the House electing a Democratic Senate electing Tim Walls as Vice President of the United States and electing kamla Harris as the President of the United States onward to Victory who says you can't go home again after watching the Obamas last night that was some epic fire wasn't it some epic fire we're now so fired up we can't wait to leave here and do something and what we're going to do is elect commo Harris as the next president of the United States I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight's theme about what matters most to me to you and all of us Americans Freedom there are people who want you to see our country country as a nation of us against them people who want to scare you who want to rule you people who'd have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe that there's a right way to worship and a wrong way to love people who seek first to divide and then to conquer but here's the thing when we stand together it is impossible to conquer Us in the words of an extraordinary American the late Congressman John Lewis he said no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on we are all in the same boat now Congressman Lewis knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are but he also knew that the work is not done the work will never be done because Freedom isn't free America is an ongoing project it requires commitment it requires being open to the hard work and the heart work of democracy and every now and then it requires standing up to Life's bullies I know this I've lived in Mississippi in Tennessee in Wisconsin Maryland Indiana Florida Hawaii Colorado California and California and Sweet Home Chicago Illinois I have actually traveled this country from the Redwood Forest love those redwoods to The Gulfstream Waters I've seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division I've not only seen it at times I've been on the receiving end of it but more often than not what I've witnessed and experienced are human beings both conservative and liberal who may not agree with each other but who' still help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble these are the people who make me proud to say say that I am an American they are the best of America and despite what some would have you think we are not so different from our neighbors when a house is on fire we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion we don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted no we just try to do the best we can to save them and if the place place happens to belong to a childless cat lady well we try to get that cat out too cuz we are a country of people who work hard for the money we wish our brothers and sisters well and we pray for peace we know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters but we are Beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and Foolery these are complicated times people and they require adult conversation and I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy and it is the best of America now over the last couple of nights we have all seen brave people walk onto this stage and share their most private pain Amanda and Josh Caitlyn Hatley they told us their stories of rape and incest and near-death experiences from having the state deny them the abortion that their doctor explained was medically necessary and they've told us these things for one reason and that is to keep what happened to them from happening to anybody else because if you do not have autonomy over this over this if you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported there is no American Dream the women and men who are battling to keep us from going back to a time of desperation and shame and Stone Cold fear they are the New Freedom Fighters and make no mistake they are the best of America I want to talk now about somebody who's not with us tonight Tessy Pros Williams was born in New Orleans not long after the Supreme Court rule that segregated Public Schools were unconstitutional that was in 1954 I was born but I didn't have to head to first grade at the all-white McDonna 19 school with a US Marshall by my side like Tessy did and when I got to school the building wasn't empty like it was for Tessy you see rather than allowing Madonna to be integrated parents pull their kids out of the school leaving only Tessy and two other little black girls Gail etian and Leona Tate to sit in a classroom with the windows papered over to block snipers from attacking their six-year-old bodies Tessy passed away six weeks ago and I tell this story to honor her tonight because she she like Ruby Bridges and her friends Leon and Gail the New Orleans four they were called they broke barriers and they paid dearly for it but it was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessie prevos Williams that paved the way for another young girl who N9 years later became part of the second class to integrate the public schools in Berkeley California and it seems to me that at school and at home somebody did a beautiful job of showing this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom they showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is but what can be they instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the Glorious fighting spirit necess Neary to pursue that passion and soon and very soon soon and very soon we're going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father two idealistic energetic immigrants immigrants how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United States that is the best of America you know you know let me tell you this this election isn't about us and them it's about you and me and what we want our futures to look like there are choices to be made when we cast our ballot now there's a certain candidate says if we just go to the polls this one time that we'll never have to do it again well you know what you're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again because I'm an American and that's what Americans do voting is the best of America and I have always since I was eligible to vote I've always voted my value and that is what is needed in this election now more than ever so I'm calling on all you Independence and all you undecided you know this is true you know I'm telling you the truth that values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life and more than anything you know this is true that decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024 and and just plain common sense Common Sense tells you that kamla Harris and Tim walz can give us decency and respect they're the ones to give it to us so we are Americans we are Americans let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual because because that's the best of America and let us choose optimism over cynicism because that's the best of America and let us choose inclusion over retribution let us choose Common Sense over nonsense because that's the best of America and let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday we won't go back we won't be set back pushed back bullied back kicked back we're not going back not going back we're not going back so let us choose let us choose truth let us choose honor and let us choose Joy because that's the best of America but more than anything else let us choose Freedom why because that's the best of America we're all let's all choose Kamala Harris thank you Chicago thank you America thank you wow well thank you thank you first of all to vice president Harris thanks for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign and a thank you to President Joe Biden for four years of strong historic leadership it's it's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States we're all we're all here tonight for one beautiful simple reason we love this country so thank you to all of you here in Chicago and all of you watching at home tonight thank you for your passion thank you for your determination and most of all thank you for bringing the joy to this fight now I grew up in but Nebraska a town of 400 people I had 24 kids in my high school class and none of them went to Yale but I'll tell you what growing up in a small town like that you learn how to take care of each other that that family down the road they may not think like you do they may not pray like you do they may not love like you do but they're your neighbors and you look out for them and they look out for you everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute for me it was serving in the Army National Guard I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I pray proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years my dad a Korean War era Army veteran died of lung cancer a couple years later he left behind a mountain of medical debt thank God for Social Security survivor benefits and thank God for the GI bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college and millions of other Americans eventually like the rest of my family I fell in love with teaching three three out of four of us married teachers I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mano West High School G Scarlet we ran we ran a 44 defense we played through to the whistle on every single play and we even won a state championship never closed the yearbook people but it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress they saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them a commitment to the common good an understanding that we're all in this together and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors so there I was a 40-some high school teacher with little kids zero political experience and no money running in a deep red District but you know what never underestimate a public school teacher never I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years and I learned an awful lot I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans and I learned how to compromise without compromising in my values then I came back to serve as governor and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors lives we cut taxes for the middle class we passed Paid Family and Medical Leave we invested in fighting crime and affordable housing we cut the cost of prescription drugs and help people escape the of medical debt that nearly sank my family and we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day so while other states were Banning books from their schools we were banishing Hunger from ours we also protected reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make and even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves we've got a golden rule mind your own damn business and that includes ibf and fertility treatments this is personal for Gwen and I if you've never experienced the hell that is infertility I guarantee you you know somebody who has and I can remember praying each night for a phone call The Pit in your stomach when the phone had rang and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked it took Gwen and I years but we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was born we named her hope hope Gus and Gwen you are my entire world and I love you I'm letting you in on how we started a family because this is a big part about what this election is about Freedom when rep when Republicans use the word Freedom they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office corporations free to pollute your air and water and banks free to take advantage of customers but when we Democrats talk about Freedom we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love freedom to make your own health care decisions and yeah your kids freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall look I know guns I'm a veteran I'm a Hunter and I was a better shot than most republicans in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it but I'm also a dad I believe in the Second Amendment but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe that's what this is all about the responsibility we have to our kids to each other and to the Future that we're building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of Life they want but not everyone has that same sense of responsibility some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor take Donald Trump and JD Vance their project 2025 will make things much much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives they spent a lot of time pretending in they know nothing about this but look I coached High School football long enough to know and trust me on this when somebody takes the time to draw up a Playbook they're going to use it and and we know if these guys get back in the White House they'll start jacking up the costs on the middle class they'll repeal the Affordable Care Act they'll gut Social Security and Medicare and they will ban abortion across this country with or without [Applause] Congress here's the thing it's an agenda nobody asked for it's a agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us and it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need is it weird absolutely absolutely but it's also wrong and it's dangerous it's not just me saying so it's Trump's own people they were with him for four years they're warning us that the next four years will be much much worse you know when I was teaching every year we'd elect a student body president and you know what those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others leaders do the work so I don't know about you I'm ready to turn the page on these guys so go ahead say it with me we're not going back not not we've got something better to offer the American people it starts with our candidate kamla Harris from her first day as a prosecutor as a district attorney as an attorney general as a United States Senator and then our vice president she's fought on the side of the American people she's taken on the Predators and fraudsters she's taken down the transnational gangs and she stood up to powerful corporate interests she has never hesitated to reach across that aisle if it meant improving your lives and she's always done it with energy with passion and with joy folks we've got a chance to make kamla Harris the next president of the United States but I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as president before we ask him for their votes so here this is the part clip and save it and send it to your undecided relatives so they know if your middle class family or a family trying to get into the middle class KLA Harris is going to cut your taxes if you're getting squeezed by prescription drug prices KLA Harris is going to take on big Pharma if you're hoping to buy a home KLA Harris is going to help make it more affordable and no matter who you are KLA Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead because that's what we want for ourselves and it's what we want for our neighbors you know you might not know it but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this but I have given a lot of pep talks so let me let me finish with this team it's the fourth quarter we're down a field goal but we're on offense and we've got the ball we're driving down the field and boy do we have the right team kamla Harris is top kamla Harris is experienced and KLA Harris is ready our job our job our job our job for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling one inch at a time one yard at a time one phone call at a time one door knock at a time $5 donation at a time look we got 76 days that's nothing there'll be time to sleep when you're dead we're going to leave it on the field That's How we'll keep moving forward that's how we'll Turn the page on Donald Trump That's How we'll build a country where workers Come First healthc Care and housing are human rights right and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom that's how we make America a place where no child is left hungry where no Community is Left Behind where nobody gets told they don't belong that's how we're gonna fight and as the next president of the United States always says when we fight when we fight when we fight thank you God [Applause] thank you thank you thank you everybody thank you thank you thank you thank you all right all right all right that's enough thank you thank you Chicago it's good to be home it is good to be home and I I don't know about you but I'm feeling fired up I I I am feeling ready to go even if even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle [Applause] Obama I am feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her someone who sees you and hears you and we'll get up every single day and fight for you the next president of the United States of America kamla Harris it's been 16 years since I had the honor of accepting this party's nomination president and I know that's hard to believe because not aged a bit but it's true and and looking back I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best and that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president uh uh other other than some common Irish blood Joe and I I come from different backgrounds but we became brothers and as we worked together for eight sometimes pretty tough years what I came to admire most about Joe wasn't just his smarts his experience it was his empathy and his decency and his hard earned resilience his unshakable belief that every everyone in this country deserves a fair shot and over the last four years those are the values America has needed most at a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right at a time when our economy was really we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world's strongest recovery 15 million jobs higher wages lower health care costs at a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality we needed a leader who was steady and brought people together and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country history will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger and I am proud to call him my president but I am even prouder to call him him my [Applause] friend now the torch has been passed now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in and make no mistake it will be a fight for all the incredible energy we've been able to generate over the last few weeks for all the rallies and the memes this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country a country where too many Americans are still struggling where a lot of Americans don't believe government can help and As We Gather here tonight the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question who will fight for me who's thinking about my future about my children's future about our future together one thing is for certain Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that [Applause] question here's a 78y old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he wrode down his golden escalator nine years ago it has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kam there's the childish nicknames the crazy conspiracy theories this weird obsession with crowd sizes it I it just goes on and on and on the other day I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day now from a neighbor that's exhausting from a president it's just dangerous the the the truth is Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than it means to his ends he wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his rich friends he killed a bipartisan immigration deal written in part by one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress that would have helped secure our Southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign he doesn't do not boot vote doesn't seem to care if more women lose their reproductive Freedom since it won't affect his life and most of all Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and Them between The Real Americans who of course support him and The Outsiders who don't and he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place it it is one of the oldest tricks in politics from a guy whose act has let's face it gotten pretty stale we do not need four more years of Bluster and bumbling and Chaos we have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse America's ready for a new chapter America's ready for a better story we are ready for a president kamla Harris and KLA Harris is ready for the job this is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion as you heard from Michelle Kamala was not born into privilege she had to work for what she's got and she actually cares about what other people are going through she's not the neighbor running the leaf blower she's the neighbor rushing over to help when you need a hand as a prosecutor kamla stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse as an attorney general of the most populous state in the country she fought big Banks and for-profit colleges securing billions of dollars for the people they had scanned after the Home Mortgage crisis she pushed me and my Administration hard to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement didn't matter that I was a Democrat didn't matter that she had knocked on doors for my campaign in Iowa she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it as vice president she helped take on the drug companies to cap the cost of insulin lower the cost of Health Care give families with kids a tax cut and she is running for president with real plans to lower costs even more and protect Medicare and Medicaid and sign a law to guarantee every woman's right to make her own health care decisions in other words comma Harris won't be focused on on her problems she'll be focused on yours as president she won't just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee she'll work on behalf of every American that's who kamla is and in the white house she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Waltz let let me tell you something let me let me tell you something I love this guy Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics born in a small town served his country taught kids coached football took care of his neighbors he knows who he is and he knows what's important you can tell those those flannel shirts he wears don't come from some political consultant they come from his closet and they have been through some stuff they have been through some stuff that's right together kamla and Tim have kept Faith with America's Central story a story that says we are all created equal all of us owed with certain inable rights that everyone deserves a chance that even when we don't agree with each other we can find a way to live with each other that's kamla's Vision that's Tim's Vision that's the Democratic party's vision and our job over the next 11 weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that [Music] Vision now it won't be easy the other side knows it's easier to play on people's fears and cynicism always has they will tell you that government is inherently corrupt that that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers and since the game is rigged it's okay to take what you want and just look after your own that's the easy path we have a different task our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver and and doing that we can't just point to what we've already accomplished we can't just rely on the ideas of the past we need to chart a new way forward to meet the challenges of today and kamla understands this she knows for example that if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home we need to build more units and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that made it harder to build homes for working people in in this country that is a priority and she's put out a bold new Clan to you just that on healthc care we should all be proud of the enormous progress that we've made through the Affordable Care Act providing millions of people access to Affordable coverage protecting Millions more from unscrupulous Insurance practices and I noticed by the way that since it's become popular they don't call it Obamacare no more but kamla knows we can't stop there which is why she'll keep working to limit out of pocket costs KLA knows that if we want to help people get ahead we need to put a college degree Within Reach of more Americans but but she also knows College shouldn't be the only ticket to the middle class we need to follow the lead of Governors like Tim Walls who said if you've got the skills and the drive you shouldn't need a degree to work for state government and in this new economy we need a president who actually cares about the millions of people all across this country who wake up every single day to do the essential often thankless work to care for our sick to clean our streets to deliver our packages we need a president who will stand up for their right to bargain for better wages and working conditions and kamla will be that president yes she can yes she can a Harris Waltz Administration can help us move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress because at their core K and Tim understand that when everybody gets a fair shot we are all better off they understand that when every child gets a good education the whole economy gets stronger when women are paid the same as men for doing the same job All Families benefit they understand that we can secure our borders without tearing kids away from their parents just like we can keep our streets safe while also building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and eliminating bias that will make it better for everybody Donald Trump and his well y donors they don't see the world that way for them one group's gains is necessarily another group's loss for them Freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please whether it's firew workers trying to organize a union or put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everybody else has to do well we have a broader idea of freedom we believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you're willing to work hard the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they'll come home we believe that true Freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life how we work ship what our family looks like how many kids we have who we marry and we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours that's okay that's the America KLA Harrison Tim Walls believe in an America Where We the People includes everyone because that's the only way this American experiment works and despite what our politics might suggest I think most Americans understand that democracy isn't just a bunch of abstract principles and and and dusty laws in in some book somewhere it's the values we live by it's the way we treat each other including those who don't look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do that that sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message our politics have become so polarized these days that all of us across the political Spectrum seem so quick to assume the worst in others unless they agree with us on every single issue we start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out yell the other side and after a while regular folks just tune out or they don't bother to vote now that approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division but it won't work for us to make progress on the things we care about the things that really affect people's lives we we need to remember that we've all got our B blind spots and contradictions and and prejudices and that if we want to win over those those who aren't yet ready to support our candidates we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process a after all if a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe we we don't automatically assume they're bad people we recognize that the world is moving fast that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up our fellow citizens deserve the same Grace we hope they'll extend to us that's how we can build a true Democratic majority that's right one that can get things done and by the way that does not just matter to the people in this country the rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull this off no Nation no Society has ever tried to build a democracy as big and as diverse as ours before one that includes people people that over decades have come from every corner of the globe one where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood but by a common create and that's why when we uphold our values the world's a little brighter when we don't the world's a little dimmer and dictators and autocrats feel emboldened and over time we become less safe we shouldn't be the world's policemen and we can't eradicate every cruelty and Injustice in the world but America can be and must be a force for good discouraging conflict fighting disease promoting human rights protecting the planet from climate change defending Freedom brokering peace that's what kamla Harris believes and so do most Americans now all right I I I I I I know these ideas can feel pretty naive right now we live in a time of such confusion and ranker with a culture that puts a premium on things that don't last money Fame status likes we chase the approval of strangers on our phones we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then we wonder why we feel so alone we don't trust each other as much because we don't take the time to know each other and in that space between us politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other but here's the good news Chicago all across America in big cities and small towns away from all the North the ties that bind us together are still there we still coach little league and look out for our elderly neighbors we still feed the hungry in churches and mosques and synagogues and temples we share the same Pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold because because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that's bitter and divided we want something better we want to be better and the joy and the excitement that we're seeing around this campaign tells us we're not alone you know I've spent a lot of time thinking about this these past few months because as Michelle mentioned uh this summer we lost her mom Miss Maran Robinson and I don't know that anybody has ever loved their mother-in-law any more than I love mine I'm mostly it's because she was funny and wise and the least pretentious person I knew that and she always defended me with Michelle when I messed up I'd hide behind her but I also think one of the reasons Mary and I became so close was she reminded me of my grandmother the woman who helped raise me as a child and on the surface the two of them did not have a lot in common one was a black woman from right here souths side of Chicago right down the way went to Anglewood High School the other was a little old white lady born in a tiny town called Peru Kansas now I know there aren't that many people from [Applause] Peru and yet they shared a basic outlook on life they were strong smart resourceful women full of Common Sense who regardless of the barriers they encountered and women growing up in the 40s and 50s and six they they encountered barriers they still went about their business without fuss or complaint and provided an unshakable Foundation of love for their children and their grandchildren in that sense they both represented an entire generation of working people who through war and depression discrimination and limited opportunity helped build this country a lot of them toiled every day at jobs that were often too small for them and didn't pay a lot they they willingly went without just to keep a roof over their family's heads just to give their children something better but they knew what was true they knew What mattered things like honesty and integrity kindness and hard work they weren't they weren't impressed with brags or bullies they they they didn't think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong they didn't spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn't have instead they appreciated what they did they they they they found pleasure in simple things a c game with friends a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table helping others and most of all seeing their children do things and go places that they would have never imagined for themselves whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between we have all had had people like that in our lives people like comma parents who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America people like Tim's parents who taught him about the importance of service good hardworking people who weren't famous or powerful but who managed in countless ways to lead this country just a little bit better than they found it as much as any policy or program I believe that's what we yearn for a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other a restoration of what linkoln called on the eve of Civil War are bonds of affection an America that Taps what he called the better angels of our nature that is what this election is about and I believe that's why if we each do our part over the next 77 days if we knock on doors if we make phone calls if we talk to our friends if we listen to our neighbors if we work like we've never worked before if we hold firm to our convictions we will elect KLA Harris as the next president of the United States and Tim WS as the next Vice President of the United States we will elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful forward looking Amer America we all believe in and together we too will build a country that is more secure and more just more equal and more free so let's get to work God bless you and God bless the United States of America on okay we got a big night ahead thank you all so much thank you so much okay hey hello Chicago yeah all right something I I something wonderfully magical is in the air isn't it yeah you know we're feeling it here in this Arena but it's spreading all across this country we love a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long you know what I'm talking about it's the contagious power of Hope the anticipation the energy the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day the chance to Vanquish the Demons of fear Division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing The Unfinished promise of this great nation the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for America hope is making a comeback yeah but to be hon honest I am realizing that until recently I have mourned the dimming of that hope and maybe you've experienced the same feelings is that deep pit in my stomach a palpable sense of dread about the future and for me that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief the last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice folks I still feel her loss so profoundly I wasn't even sure if I'd Be steady enough to stand before you tonight but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense I of Duty that I feel to honor her memory and and to and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future you see my mom in her steady quiet way lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life she believed that all children all all people have value that anyone can succeed have given the opportunity she and my father didn't aspire to be wealthy in fact they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed they understood that it wasn't enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning so my mother volunteered at the local school she she always looked out for the other Kids on the Block she was glad to do the thankless unglamorous work that for gener ations has strengthened the fabric of this nation the belief that if you do unto others if you love thy neighbor if you work and scrape and sacrifice it will pay off if not for you then maybe for your children or your grandchildren you see those values have been passed on through Family Farms and Factory towns through Treeline streets and crowded tenaments through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath kamla Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart they shared the same belief in the promise of this country country that's why her mother moved here from India at 19 it's why she taught kamla about Justice about the obligation to lift others up about our responsibility to give more than we take she'd often tell her daughter don't sit around and complain about things do something so with that voice in her head kamla went out and she worked hard in school graduating from an HBCU earning her law degree at a state school and then she went on to work for the people fighting to hold law Breakers accountable strengthening the rule of law fighting to get folks better wages cheaper prescription drugs a good education decent health Health Care Child Care Elder Care from a middle class household kamla worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America my girl kamla Harris is more than ready for this moment she is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency and she is one of the most dignified ATT tribute to her mother to my mother and to your mother too the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country her story is your story it's my story it's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life look comma know like we do that regardless of where you come from what you look like who you love how you worship or what's in your bank account we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American no one Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation not by spewing anger and bitterness but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others she understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth if if we bankrupt a business if we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis we don't get a second third or fourth chance if things don't go our way we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead no we don't get to change the rules so we always win if we see a mountain in front of us we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top no we put our heads down we get to work in America we do do something and throughout her entire life that's what we've seen from kamla Harris the steel of her spine the steadiness of her upbringing the honesty of her example and yes the joy of her laughter and her light it couldn't be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race only KLA Harris truly understands the Unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great now unfortunately we know what comes next we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth my husband and I sadly know a little something about this for years Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardwork and highly educated successful people who happen to be black wait I I I want to know I want to know who's going to tell him who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs look it's his same old con his same old con doubling down on ugly misogynistic racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better look because cutting our health care taking away our freedom to control our bodies the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives mothers and daughters shutting down the Department of Education Banning our books none of that will prepare our kids for the future demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love look that doesn't make anybody's life better instead instead it only makes us small and let me tell you this going small is never the answer going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids going small is petty it's unhealthy and quite frankly it's unpresidential so why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office why would we normalize that type of backward leadership doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics it only serves to further discourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America our parents taught us better than that and we deserve so much better than that that's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people there is no other choice than kamla Harris and Tim Walls no other choice but as we Embrace this renewed sense of hope let us not forget the despair we have felt let us not forget what we are up against yes kamla and Tim are doing great now we're loving it they're packing Arenas across the country folks are energized we are feeling good but remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome who are ready to question and criticize every move comma makes who are eager to spread those lies who don't want to vote for a woman who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring that everyone has enough so no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day this is going to be an up Hill battle so folks we cannot be our own worst enemies no see cuz the minute something goes wrong the minute a lie takes hold folks we cannot start ringing our hands we cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right and we can not indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like kamla instead of doing everything we can to get someone like kamla elected kamla and Tim they have lived amazing lives and I I am confident that they will lead with compassion inclusion and Grace but they are still only human they are not perfect and like all of us they will make mistakes but luckily y'all this is not just on them nah uh-uh this is up to us all of us to be the solution that we seek it's up to all of us to be the anecdote to the darkness and division look I don't care how you identify politically whether you're Democrat Republican independent or none of the above this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right to stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and Humanity for basic respect dignity and empathy for the values at the very Foundation of this democracy it's up to us to remember what kamla's mother told her don't just sit around and complain do something so if they lie about her and they will we've got to do something if we see a bad poll and we will we got to put down that phone and do something something if we start feeling tired if we start feeling that dread creeping back in we got to pick ourselves up throw water on our face and what we only have two and a half months y'all to get this done only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan so we cannot afford for anyone anyone anyone America to sit on their hands and wait to be called don't complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask you for your support there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness you know what you need to do so consider this to be your official ask Michelle Obama is asking you no I'm telling y'all to do something [Applause] because you all this election is going to be close in some states just a handful listen to me a handful of votes and every Precinct could decide the winner so we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us our fate is in our hands in 77 days we have the power to turn turn our country away from the fear Division and smallness of the past we have the power to marry our hope with our action we have the power to pay forward the love sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us we did it before y'all and we sure can do it again let us work like our lives depend on it and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher yes always higher than we've ever gone before as we elect the next president and vice president of the United States KLA Harris and Tim Walls thank you all God bless woo w w w lot of energy in this room just like there is across the country something something is happening in America you can feel it something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time first though let's salute President [Applause] Biden he he has been democracy's chair Ion at home and abroad he brought dignity decency and confidence back to the White House and he showed what it means to be a true patriot thank you Joe Biden for your lifetime of service and Leadership and now and now we are writing a new chapter in America's story you know my mother Dorothy was born right here in Chicago before women had the right to vote that changed 104 years ago yesterday think about it Tennessee became the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution the state legislature was deadlocked until one lawmaker's mother a widow who read three newspapers a day sent a letter a letter to her son no more delays she wrote give us the vote and since that day every generation has carried the torch forward in 1972 a Fearless black congresswoman named shley Chisum she ran for president and her determination let me and millions of others dream bigger not just because of who she was but because of who she fought for working parents poor children the last the least and the lost in 1984 I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro the first woman nominated for vice president if we can do this Jerry said we can do anything and then there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president and and nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams and after afterwards we refused to give up on America Millions marched many ran for office we kept our eyes on the future well my friends the future is here I wish my mother and kamla's mother could see us they would say say keep going surley and Jerry would say keep going women women fighting for Reproductive Health Care are saying keep going families building Better Lives parents stretching to afford child care young people struggling to pay their rent they're all asking us to keep going so with faith in each other and joy in our hearts let's send kamla Harris and Tim Walls to the White House you know the story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible but not guaranteed we have to fight for it and never ever give up there is always a choice do we push forward or pull back come together as we the people or split into US versus them that's the choice we face in this election kamla has the character experience and vision to lead us forward I know her heart and her Integrity we both got our start as young lawyers helping children who were abused and neglected that kind of work changes a person those kids stay with you comma carries with her the hopes of every child she protected every family she helped every Community she served so as president she will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us she will fight to lower costs for hardworking families open the doors wide for good paying jobs and yes she will restore abortion rights Nationwide as a pro prosecutor kamla locked up murderers and Drug traffickers she will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and when he woke up he made his own kind of History the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions [Applause] as vice president as vice president Kamala sat in the Situation Room [Applause] but we also know as vice president Kamala sat in the situation room and stood for America's values I know what it takes and I can tell you as commander and chief Kamala won't disrespect our military and our veterans she she reveres our Medal of Honor recipients she won't be sending love letters to dictators she will defend democracy and our Constitution and will protect America from enemies foreign and Dom FC think about it the Constitution says the president's job is to take care that the laws be Faithfully executed those are the words of our Founders take care just look at the candidates calent cares cares about kids and families cares about America Donald only cares about [Applause] himself on her first day in court kamla said five words that still guide her kamla Harris for the people that is something that Donald Trump will never understand so it is no surprise is it that he is lying about kamla's record he's mocking her name and her laugh sounds familiar but we have him on the run now so so no matter what the polls say we can't let up we can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes we have to fight for the truth we have to fight for kamla as she will fight for us because you know what it still takes a village to raise a family heal a country and win a campaign and America needs every one of us our energy our talents our dreams we're not just electing a president we're uplifting our nation we're opening the promise of America wide enough for everyone together we put a lot of crack in the highest hardest glass ceiling and tonight tonight so close to breaking through once and for all I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us what do I see I see freedom I see the freedom to make our own decisions about our health Our lives our loves our families the freedom to work with dignity and prosper to worship as we choose or not to speak our minds freely and honestly I see freedom from fear and intimidation from violence and Injustice from chaos and Corruption I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say America you can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you and mean it and you know what on the other side of that glass ceiling is kamla Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of off office as our 47th president of the United States because my friends when a barrier Falls for one of us it falls it falls and clears the way for all of us so for the next 78 days we need to work harder than we ever have we need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life don't get distracted or complacent talk to your friends and Neighbors volunteer be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love I want I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment that we were here and that we were with kamla Harris every step of the way this is our time America this is when we stand up this is when we break through the future is here it's in our grasp let's go well I'm Adam kinzinger and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward Alliance that we have to defend truth defend democracy and decency I was just a kid when I re was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan to his vision of a strong America The Shining City on a Hill I was a republican for 12 years in Congress and I still hold on to the label I never thought I'd be here but listen you never thought you'd see me here did you but I've learned something about the Democratic party and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret the Democrats are as patriotic as us they they love this country just as much as we do and they and they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been I was relieved to discover that because I've learned something about my party to something I couldn't ignore the Republican party is no longer conservative it has switched its Allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong he is a small man pretending to be big he's a faithless man pretending to be righteous he's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim he puts on listen he he he puts on quite a show but there is no real strength there as a conservative and a veteran I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable it's in protecting your family it's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy that that is the soul of being a conservative it used to be the soul of being a republican but Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party his fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness sapping our strength softening our spine whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a Siege on the United States capital that day I stood witnessed to a profound sorrow the desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition of power tarnished by a Man Too fragile too Vain and too weak to accept defeat how can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election how how can a party claim to stand for Liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine an attack pitting tyranny against democracy a challenge to everything our nation claims to be and it Retreats it equivocates it nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin and his running mate his running mate who said quote I don't care what happens in Ukraine yeah he wants to be vice president yeah how can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forebearers fought for men like my grandfather who served in World War II who believed in a cause bigger than himself and he risked his life for it Behind Enemy Lines to preserve American democracy his generation Found the courage to face down armies listen all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man some some have questioned some have questioned why I've taken the stand I have the answer is really simple ladies and gentlemen we must put country first and tonight and tonight as a republican speaking before you I'm putting our country first because the fact is I do belong here I know comma Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law the Constitution and democracy and she is dedicated to upold upholding all three in service to our country whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle of decency and a Fidelity to this nation listen to my fellow Republicans if you still pledge allegiance to those principles I suspect you belong here too because because democracy knows no party it's a it's a living breathing ideal that defines us as a nation it's the Bedrock that separates us from tyranny and when that Foundation is fractured we must all Stand Together United to strengthen it if you think those principles are worth defending then I urge you make the right choice vote vote for our Bedrock values and vote for kamla Harris God bless you hello fellow Americans I Gabby gers I was born in the great state of Arizona I was born with grit I grew up racing motorcycles McKing stalls and exploring the beautiful desert I fell for an astronaut for five years I served in Congress from a swing District everybody called me a rising star then on January 8th 2011 a man tried to assassinate me he shot 19 people he killed six terrible terrible day I almost died but I fought for my life and I survived I learned to walk again one step at a time I learn to talk again one word at a time so many people helped me as I worked hard to recover including a decent man for Delaware who always checked in in he still does thank you Joe Biden thank you for everything Joe is a great president my friend Kamala will be a great president she is tough she has grit kamla can beat the gun lobby she can fight gun trafficking Pamela stood up to Wall Street and the drug company she will protect abortion access yes she will defend our freedom she save lives join me in voting for Pamela Harris thank you I'm Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Lancing they call me Governor but in Detroit they call me big Gretch Donald Trump called me that woman from Michigan as an insult being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor like women across America we just GSD get stuff done at 29 I joined the sandwich generation sandwiched between working and raising my newborn and caring for my mom who was dying from brain cancer it was hard but not extraordinary it's life those nights reminded me who I was fighting for people just trying to make it kamla Harris knows who she's fighting for too she took care of her mom who also battled cancer as president she'll fight to lower the cost of Health Care and elder care for every family she's lived a life like ours she knows us Donald Trump doesn't know you at all you think he understands that when your car breaks down you can't get to work no his first word was probably chauffeur you think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out hell you think he's ever been to a grocery store that's what the chauffeur is for but kamla Harris she gets us she sees us she is us look we've all lived through a lot of history over the past few years floods and fires an attempted coup a plot and a pandemic it's exhausting we don't know what what the next four years will bring but what we do know is this through it all your life won't stop you're going to have to get to work pick up the kids and pay your bills and then one day when you're just trying to get everyone out the door a news alert goes off something happened something hit the fan you'll ask is my family going to be okay and then you'll ask who the hell is in charge what if it's him what what if it's that man from maril Largo I know in a crisis we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan to tell the truth and to bring people together right now before the crisis is when we get to choose why wouldn't we choose the leader who's tough tested and a total badass I know who I want as our commanderin-chief America let's choose kamla Harris California good evening everyone good evening good evening oh my goodness good evening everyone good evening good good evening thank you thank you thank you good evening thank you thank you thank thank you thank you thank you everyone thank you thank you thank you thank you all thank you all okay we got to get some business we got to get to some business okay thank you all okay thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you please thank you please thank you so very much thank you everyone thank you everyone thank you okay let's get to business let's get to business all right so let me start by thanking my most incredible husband [Music] Doug for being an incredible partner to me an incredible father to colon Ella and happy anniversary douge I love you so very much to our President Joe Biden when I think about the path that we have traveled together Joe I am filled with gratitude your record is extraordinary as history will show and your character is inspiring and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both and to coach Tim Walls you are going to be an incredible vice president and to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign your support is humbling so America the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected but I'm no stranger to unlikely Journeys so my mother our mother shamala Harris had one of her own and I miss her every day and especially right now and I know she's looking down smiling I know that so my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would Cure breast cancer when she finished school she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage but as fate would have it she met my father Donald Harris a student from Jamaica they they fell in love and got married and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and Me growing up we moved a lot I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings ready to go to Illinois to Wisconsin and wherever our parents' jobs took us my early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones a home filled with laughter and music artha cold train and miles at the park my mother would say stay close but my father would say as he smiled run kamla run Don't Be Afraid don't let anything stop you from my earliest years he taught me to be Fearless but the harmony between my parents did not last when I was in elementary school they split up and it was mostly my mother who raised us before she could finally afford to buy a home she rented a small apartment in the East Bay in the bay in the bay you either live in the Hills or the flat lands we lived in the Flats a beautiful workingclass neighborhood of firefighters nurses and construction workers all who tended their lawns with pride my mother she worked long hours and like many working parents leaned on a trusted Circle to help raise us Mrs Shelton who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother Uncle Sherman Aunt Mary uncle Freddy Auntie Chris none of them family by Blood and all of them family by love family who taught us how to make gumbo how to play chess and sometimes even let us win family Who Loved Us believed in us and told us we could be anything and do anything they instilled in us the values they personified Community faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated with kindness respect and comp passion my mother was a brilliant 5 foot tall brown woman with an accent and as the eldest child as the eldest child I saw how the world would sometimes treat her but my mother never lost her cool she was tough courageous a Trailblazer in the fight for Women's Health and she taught Maya and me a l that Michelle mentioned the other night she taught us to never complain about Injustice but do something about it do something about it that was my mother and she taught us and she always she also taught us and she also taught us and never do anything half asked and that is a direct quote a direct quote I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement my parents had met at a civil rights Gathering and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders including the lawyers like thur Good Marshall and con Constance Baker Motley those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America so at a young age I decided I wanted to do that work I wanted to be a lawyer and when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life you see when I was in high school I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda she was sad at school and there were times she didn't want to go home so one day I asked if everything was all right and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather and I immediately told her she had to come stay with us and she did this is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety to dignity and to Justice as a prosecutor when I had a case I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people for a simple reason in our system of justice a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us and I would often explain this to console survivors of crime to remind them no one should be made to fight alone we are all in this together and every day in the courtroom I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words comma harence for the people and to be clear and to be clear my entire career I've only had one client the people and so on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party race gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely Journey on behalf of of Americans like the people I grew up with people who work hard chase their dreams and look at out for one another on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America and with this election and and with this election our nation our nation with this election has a precious fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness cynicism and divisive battles of the past a chance to chart a new way forward not not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans and let me say I know there are people of various political views watching tonight and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans you can always trust me to put country above party and self to hold sacred America's fundamental principles from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations a president who leads and listens who is realistic practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people from the courthouse to the White House that has been my life's work as a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland California I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them as Attorney General of California I took on the big Banks delivered $20 billion for middle class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights one of the first of its kind in the nation I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges for workers who are being cheated out of their wages the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse I fought against the cartels who traffick in guns and drugs and human beings who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities and I will tell you these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices we were underestimated at practically every turn but we never gave up because the future is always always worth fighting for and that's the fight we are in right now a fight for America's future fellow Americans this election is not only the most important of Our Lives it is one of the most important in the life of our nation in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man but the consequences but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious consider consider not only the chaos and Calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes when he failed he sent an armed mob to the United States capital where they assaulted Law Enforcement Officers when politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help he did the opposite he fanned the flames and now for an entirely different set of crimes he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse and consider consider what he intends to do if we give him power again consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the capital his explicit intent to jail journalists political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy his explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens consider consider the power he will have especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from Criminal prosecution just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life not to strengthen our national security but to serve the only client he has ever had himself and we know and we know what a second Trump term would look like it's all laid out in Project 2025 written by his closest advisors and its sum total is to pull our country back to the past but America we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare we are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions we are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our Public Schools we are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and child care for our children America we are not going back and we are charting and we are charting a New Way forward forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America's success and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency and I'll tell you this is personal for me the middle class is where I come from my mother kept a strict budget we lived within our means yet we wanted for little and she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them because as she taught us opportunity is not available to everyone that's why we will create what I call an opportunity economy an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed whether you live in a rural area small town or big city and as president I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like Health Care and housing and groceries we will provide access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs and Founders and we will end America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and medic Care Now compare that to Donald Trump because I think everyone here knows he doesn't actually fight for the middle class not he doesn't actually fight for the middle class instead he fights for himself and his billionaire friends and he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt and and all the while he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax call it a trump tax that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year well instead of a trump tax hike we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans friends I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives especially on matters of heart and home but tonight in America too many women are not able to make those decisions and let's be clear about how we got here Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom and now he brags about it in his words quote I did it and I'm proud to have done it end quote well I'll tell you over the past two years I've traveled across our country and women have told me their stories husbands and fathers have shared theirs stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot developing sepsis losing the ability to ever again have children all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients couples just trying to grow their family cut off in the middle of IVF treatments children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term this is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump and understand he is not done as a part of his agenda he and his allies would limit access to birth control ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress and get this get this he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions simply put they are out of their minds and one must ask one must ask why exactly is it that they don't trust women well we trust women we trust women and when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive Freedom as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law in this election many other fundamental freedoms are at stake the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools communities and places of worship the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis and the freedom that unlocks all the others the freedom to vote with this election we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the freedom to vote act and let me be clear and let me be clear after decades in law enforcement I know the importance of Safety and Security especially at our border last year Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades the border patrol endorsed it but Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal well I refuse to play politics with our security and here is my pledge to you as president I will bring back the bipartisan bard of security bill that he killed and I will sign it into law I know I know we can live up to our proud Heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system we we can create an earned Pathway to citizenship and secure our border and America we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad as vice president I have confronted threats to our security negotiated with foreign leaders ERS strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas as commander-in Chief I will ensure America always has the strongest most lethal fighting force in the world and I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice I will make sure that we leave the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence that America not China wins the compet comptition for the 21st century and that we strengthen not abdicate our Global Leadership Trump on the other hand threatened to abandon NATO he encouraged Putin to invade our allies said Russia could quote do whatever the hell they want 5 days before Russia attacked Ukraine I met with president zalinski to warn him about Russia's plan to invade I helped mobilize a Global Response over 50 countries to defend against Putin's aggression and as president I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies with respect to the war in Gaza President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done and let me be clear and let me be clear I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7 including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival at the same time what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating so many innocent lives lost desperate hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again the scale of suffering is heartbreaking President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure the hostages are released the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity security freedom and self-determination and know this I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and iran-backed terrorists I will not Co up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump who are rooting for Trump because you know they know they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors they know Trump won't hold aut R accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself and as president I will never waver in defense of America's security and ideals because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs so fellow Americans fellow Americans I I love our country with all my heart Everywhere I Go Everywhere I Go in everyone I meet I see a nation that is is ready to move forward ready for the next step in The Incredible Journey that is America I see an America where we hold fast to The Fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world that here in this country anything is possible that nothing is Out Of Reach an America where we care for one another look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us that none of us none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed and that in unity there is strength you know our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America talking about how terrible everything is well my mother had another lesson she used to teach never let anyone tell you who you are you show them who you are America let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for Freedom opportunity compassion dignity fairness and endless possibilities we are the hirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world and on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty we must be worthy of this moment moment it is now our turn to do what Generations before us have done Guided by optimism and Faith to fight for this country we love to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth the privilege and pride of being an American so let's get out there let's fight for it let's get out there let's vote for it and together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary Story Ever Told thank you God bless you and may God bless the United States of America thank got this you know what I love best about KLA Harris kamla Harris can't be bought and she can't be bossed around now I first met kamla in the after math of the 2008 financial crash the banks had flat out broken laws cheated people and stolen homes millions of Americans had lost their jobs their savings their homes now I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go cfv yeah kamla was protecting families as California's attorney general you bet and Donald was scamming students at Trump University and trying to make money off people losing their homes KLA Harris stepped up she enforced the law she fought the giant Banks and she delivered billions of dollars of help for families and that is the difference between a criminal and a prosecutor you know what else I love about kamla she gets it we need to make life more affordable for working people yeah Donald Trump the felon has no plans to lower costs for families he doesn't know how and basically he doesn't really care when did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill the only bills he worries about are from his criminal defense lawyers but kamla she cares deep down and she will take on the giant corporations that are squeezing American families in fact it's something she's done before during the California wildfires she went after the price gougers during the pandemic we worked together in the Senate to stop price gouging and as president she will lower costs for your family she'll take on the Wall Street firms that buy up millions of houses and apartments and then jack up the rent she'll take on drug companies that charge an arm and a leg for prescriptions she'll take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers and billionaires who don't pay taxes and she'll take on right-wing extremists who think they should decide who has access to abortion or IVF kamla will protect abortion rights Nationwide yeah and there it is groceries gas housing Health Care taxes abortion trust Donald Trump and JD fans to look out for your family shoot I wouldn't let those guys I wouldn't trust them to move my couch we need kamla Harris this election is about your family and your future I've seen KLA Harris fight I've seen her win and when it comes to our families and our futures kamla Harris is someone we can trust so here it is with joy in our hearts let's elect comma Harris the next president of the United States hello [Applause] Democrats so President Obama had a follow Michelle I had a follow Gabby and pink Gabby amazes me every single day she was able to walk out and address you tonight because she's a fighter and thanks to a team of doctors nurses and especially her speech therapist T we all need a team I've flown into space four times I've flown into combat nearly 40 times not once did I do that by myself it took a team to accomplish a mission it always does I flew in the Navy during the first Gulf War America rallied our allies to kick out a tyrant who invaded a neighbor today Vladimir Putin is testing whether we're still that strong Iran North Korea and especially China watch closely what's Trump's answer he invited Russia to do and these are his words not mine whatever the hell they want vice president Harris has always championed America's support for NATO for Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people on the Senate intelligence committee she investigated Russian interference in our election she defends free and fair elections everywhere you already know how Trump feels about those Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings he was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one [Applause] himself Trump thinks that Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice are suckers and losers if we fall for that again and make him the commanderin-chief the only suckers would be us kamla Harris knows that standing with their allies means standing up for Americans she'll keep modernizing our military to support our troops and to support our veterans like our next vice president Tim Walls the world laughs at Trump literally but folks it is not funny when he was president that meant the world was laughing at us the threats we Face are too serious the sacrifices our service members make are too sacred the alliances we've spent decades building are too critical that's what's at stake now and the choice the choice isn't even close but in Arizona and Nationwide this election will be we'll win in the same way we launch rockets into space and land fighter jets on an aircraft carrier as one team on one Mission state by state voter by voter coming together no country no country is better than ours at solving big problems so on November 5th let's prove that America is still the leader the world needs today by the the electing the leader we need right now kamla Harris thank you everybody thank you please welcome former Secretary of Defense Leon [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Panetta whoa let me ask you after the last two days aren't you proud to be a Democrat and I am very grateful to the Republicans and independents that have joined us have been up here on the stage and I hope they feel better about it now because I've seen all these things that even I have to be reminded of from time to time when I get my spirits down I love seeing the Obamas here I love seeing President [Music] Biden and I thought Hillary gave a great speech too and uh I love but I I love seeing all these young leaders bunch of them are coming up after me they look better they sound better and they'll be exciting I do want to say one word about President Biden remember he had an improbable turn that made him president and we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash he healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work and he strengthen our alliances for peace and sec security he stood up for Ukraine he trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East and then he did something that's really hard for a politician to do he voluntarily gave up political power and George Washington knew that and he did it and he set the standard Ed for us serving two turns before it was mandatory it helped his legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden's Legacy and you and it's a stark contrast to what goes on in the other party so I want to thank him for his courage compassion his CL his service his sacrifice Joe B thank [Applause] you he kept the faith and he's infected a lot of the rest of us now let's cut to the chase I am too old to Gil the Lily two days ago I turned 78 the oldest man in my family for four generations and the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump last night last night in what I thought was a very moving series of episodes we nominated commel Harris and Tim Waltz and just think about that two leaders with all American but still improbable life stories it only happen here their careers after all started in community courtrooms and classrooms two leaders who spent a lifetime getting the good job done now one of the things that I've noticed over my increasingly long life that a is it a presidential election is unique in several ways first of all it's the greatest job interview for the greatest job in the world secondly the Constitution says we the people get to do the hiring and the third thing is that every four years we get to change the requirements for the job so here's what I'm thinking thinking cuz I try to apply this in every election will this President take us backward or forward will this President give our kids a brighter future depends will this President bring us together or tear us apart will the president increase the peace security and stability and freedom that we enjoy and extend it to others as we can we the people we have to make a decision about these kind of questions and every four years it's a little different because the people come at the candidates come at the candidates and they say as they're saying now here are our problems solve them here are our opportunities seize them here are our fears ease them here are our dreams help them come true a president can answer that call by saying I'll do my part but you have to help me we have to work together or you can dodge what needs to be done by dividing distracting and diverting us so in 20124 we got a pretty clear choice it seems to me common Harris for the people and the other guy who's proved even more than the first go around that he's about me myself and I I know which one I like better for our country Comm Harris will work to solve our problems seize our opportunities ease our fears and make sure every single American however they vote has a chance to chase their dreams you know when she was young she worked at McDonald's and she greeted every person with that thousand wat smile and said how can I help you now she's at the Pinnacle of power and she's still asking how can I help you I will be I'll be so happy when she actually enters the White House's president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald now but we got an election to win and remember we've got a guy that's pretty good at what he does Donald Trump has been a paragon of consistency he's still dividing he's still blaming he's still belittling other people he creates chaos and then he sort of curates it as if it were precious art let me say not a single day goes by even though I've been gone for well over 23 years from the White House not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what it meant and one of the reasons thank you wait wait wait wait one one of the reasons one of the reasons I love the job so much is that in the toughest times even on the darkest days if you tried hard enough there was always something good you could do for somebody else now some days that's not easy to do You' got to deal with all these emergencies or there's something going on here there yonder but common Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision the experience the temperament the will and yes the sheer Joy so get something done I mean look what is abl want to do with his voice he mostly talks about himself right so the next time you hear him don't count the lies count the eyes count the eyes his vendettas his Vengeance his his complaints his conspiracies he's like one of those teners opening up before he walks out on stage like I did trying to get his lungs open by saying me me me me me [Applause] me when Cela Harris is President every Day will'll begin with you you you you so we got to ask ourselves the questions if we're going to hire a president Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up in the middle out or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd siiz you're going to have a hard time believing this but so help me I triple checked it since the end of the Cold War in 1989 America has created about 51 million new jobs I swear I check this three times even I couldn't believe it what's the score Democrats 50 Republicans W I'm glad that we've got a championship winning coach on our team but even the most limited of us in what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you're got 50 and the other side's got one you're ahead what about affordable housing it's a terrible problem in America now we need more and affordable health care it's why the Democrats put a limit on monthly payments for insulin and a $2,000 a year out of pocket limit and are trying to cover more drugs by bargaining for prices we need more financing for small businesses we need still to strengthen our alliances I almost croaked in the first debate of this election season when President Trump said nobody respected America anymore like they did when he was president wait wait and with a straight face look you got to give him he's a good actor with a with a straight face he cited as evidence of the respect that existed for us when he was there the president presidents of North Korea and Russia I'd rather have the people who respect us now and one of the things one of the things is when you send a signal to the other countries you want them to know where whether they agree with you or not at least that you're on the level that here's where you are and what you believe what are they supposed to make to these endless tributes to the late great Hannibal [Applause] Lector I mean President Obama once gave me the great honor of saying I was the explainer and chief folks I thought and thought about it and I I don't know what to [Applause] say like Kem Jeff I too want an America that's more joyful more inclusive more future focused just think what a burden it's been on us to get up day after day after day after day buried in meaningless hot rhetoric when there's so many opportunities out there so many problems that need to be solved I want that and that's the America KLA Harris will she's already made her first presidential decision and she knocked it out of the park when she asked Governor h w to be her nom for vice president as they used to say uh when I was a young man growing up in Arkansas you do not have to be all broke out with Brilliance you just look at Tim Walls listen to him follow his record as a teacher as a coach in the National Guard as a congressman where he was the only Democrat save one elected in that District in more than a hundred years and he stayed a long time and then he became a great governor and by all accounts he was a crackshot who had the courage among his rural constituents to say we do not need these assault weapons available to people who can kill our kids in school so armed with her first decision comma Harris confronts an interesting dilemma we're going to walk out of here feeling pretty good I think we've got energy we are happy we feel like a l off our shoulders and we know we're just being asked to fight the same fight that the forces of progress have had to fight for 250 years in the face of stiff and often violent opposition we have to find a way to go forward together where we the people make our Union more perfect so that's a good thing how could we possibly lose comma Harris has fought for kids her whole life that were left out and left behind she's taken on gangs trafficking across the border she's fought to protect the rights of homeowners she's been our leader in the fight for we productive freedoms and we know a majority of the American people are with us on that and she's gained an invaluable amount of experience as vice president advancing our values and interests around the world she's already said she's going to work really hard to make sure that no American working full-time lives in poverty or has to worry about their children living in poverty he say that we got to make home ownership and achievable dream for everyone not just a privilege she said that it and this meant a lot to me that she would protect everybody's right to vote whether or not they voted for her they were a Citizens and they deserved the right to vote the other day her opponent implied that it's his feet if vot people voted one more time they'd be able to rig it from now on and they wouldn't have to vote again you think they're kidding but I know a lot of these folks and most of them are really good people but some of them think that they are bound to dominate America politically economically and socially and they have to use politics to do it and they should rig the system I don't believe that and so here's what what I want to tell you we've seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn't happen when people got distracted by phony issues or over competent this is a brutal tough business I want you to be happy one of the reasons that president to be Harris is doing so well as it were all so happy but you should never underestimate your adversary and these people are really good at distracting us at triggering doubt at triggering buyers remorse as the Obama said so eloquently last night they are human you know they're bound to make a mistake now and then we got to be tough and so as somebody who spends a lot of time in small towns and rural areas in New York and Arkansas and other places I I [Music] want I I urge you to talk to all your neighbors I urge you to meet people where they are I urge you not to demean them but not to pretend you don't disagree with them if you do treat them with respect just the way you'd like them to treat you ask for their help and then follow our leader camela and asked them how can I help you we Democrats right now have a lot of hay in the barn we've got massive achievements massive advances but there's still a lot of slips between the day and election day that we have to navigate and so I want to say this from the bottom of my heart I have no idea how many more of these I'll be able to come to I started in 76 and I've been to everyone since but no 72 Lord I'm getting old but here's what I want you to know if you vote for this team if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air you will be proud of it for the rest of your life your children will be proud of it your grandchildren will be proud of it take it from a man who once had the honor to be called in this convention the man from hope we need we need camela Harris the president of joy to lead us so I'll be doing my part you do yours I'll see you when we're making a real joyful noise noise when the votes are counted God bless you and God bless America hello California hello Marilyn hello Democrats on January 20th 2021 with the inauguration of Joe Biden and kamla Harris we established one of the most successful presidencies of modern times and we quickly proved that Democrats deliver millions of jobs stronger infrastructure and Rural Broadband a CH a Biden child tax credit rescuing human pensions honoring our veterans bold climate action lowering the cost of prescription drugs all thanks to President Biden's patriotic vision of a fair America doing so with liberty and justice for all thank you Joe and I know that vice president Harris is ready to take us to new heights I've known kamla Harris for decades personally I know her a person of deep Faith which is reflected in her community care and service officially she is a leader of strength and wisdom and eloquence on policy most recently demonstrated fighting for women's right to choose politically she is a astute and strategic in winning difficult elections quickly securing the nomination with dignity and Grace and choosing Tim wals as our vice president I had the honor of serving with Tim for 12 years in the Congress he United Democrats Republicans and Independence to turn a red District blue he showed courage when he came to Congress in voting for the Affordable Care Act meeting the needs of his constituents despite Republicans lies and misrepresentation when he went home won the election he returned to Congress he fought for our Americans Heroes as the Democratic leader of the Veterans Affairs committee thank you Tim January 6th was a perilous moment for our democracy never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the Bedrock of our democracy so gleefully embraced political violence so willfully betrayed his oath of office let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6th he did but let us not forget who saved democracy that day we did and thank God we had a democratic House of Representatives [Applause] then we returned to the capital that very same night we insisted on certifying the election results on the floors of the house and the Senate and we demon demonstrated to America and to the world that American democracy prevailed the parable of January 6th reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care and we must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections who respect the people peaceful transfer of power the choice couldn't be clearer those leaders are vice president Harris and Governor walls when the sun rose on January 7th as our national anthem declares we gave proof through the night that our flag was still there now in this election we are called upon to do the same to stand together to reject autocracy to choose democracy and we will do so by electing a democratic house with hakeim Jeff as Speaker of the House electing a Democratic Senate electing Tim Walls as Vice President of the United States and electing kamla Harris as the President of the United States onward to Victory who says you can't go home again after watching the Obamas last night that was some epic fire wasn't it some epic fire we're now so fired up we can't wait to leave here and do something and what we're going to do is elect colal Harris as the next president of the United States I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight's theme about what matters most to me to you and all of us Americans Freedom there are people who want you to see our country as a nation of us against them people who want to scare you who want to rule you people who'd have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe that there's a right way to worship and a wrong way to love people who seek first to divide and then to conquer but here's the thing when we stand together it is impossible to conquer Us in the words of an extraordinary American the late Congressman John Lewis he said no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on we are all in the same boat now Congressman Lewis knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are but he also knew that the work is not done the work will never be done because Freedom isn't free America is an ongoing project it requires commitment it requires being open to the hard work and the heart work of democracy and every now and then it requires standing up to Life's bullies I know this I've lived in Mississippi in Tennessee in Wisconsin Maryland Indiana Florida Hawaii Colorado California and California and Sweet Home Chicago Illinois hi I have actually traveled this country from the Redwood Forest love those redwoods to The Gulfstream Waters I've seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division I've not only seen it at times I've been on the receiving end of it but more often than not what I've witnessed and experienced are human beings both conservative and liberal who may not agree with each other but who'd still help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble these are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American they are the best of America and despite what some would have you think we are not so different from our neighbors when a house is on fire we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion we don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted no we just try to do the best we can to save them and if the place place happens to belong to a childless cat lady well we try to get that cat out too cuz we are a country of people who work hard for the money we wish our brothers and sisters well and we pray for peace we know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters but we are Beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and Foolery these are complicated times people and they require adult conversation and I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy and it is the best of America now over the last couple of nights we have all seen brave people walk onto the the stage and share their most private pain Amanda and Josh Caitlyn Hadley they told us their stories of rape and incest and near-death experiences from having the state deny them the abortion that their doctor explained was medically necessary and they've told us these things for one reason and that is to keep what happened to them from happening to anybody else because if you do not have autonomy over this over this if you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported there is no American Dream the women and men who are battling to keep us from going back to a Time of desperation and shame and Stone Cold fear they are the New Freedom Fighters and make no mistake they are the best of America I want to talk now about somebody who's not with us tonight Tessy privos Williams was born in New Orleans not long after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated Public Schools were unconstitutional that was in 1954 same year I was born but I didn't have to head to first grade at the all-white Madonna 19 school with a US Marshall by my side like Tessy did and when I got to school the building wasn't empty like it was for Tessy you see rather than allowing Madonna to be integrated parents pull their kids out of the school leaving only Tessy and two other little black girls Gail ettien and Leona Tate to sit in a classroom with the windows papered over to block snipers from attacking their six-year-old bodies Tessy passed away six weeks ago and I tell this story to honor her tonight because she she like Ruby Bridges and her friends Leona and Gail the New Orleans four they were called they broke barriers and they paid dearly for it but it was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessy Pros Williams that paved the way for another young girl who 9 years later became part of the second class to integrate the public schools and Berkeley California and it seems to me that at school and at home somebody did a beautiful job of showing this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom they showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is is but what can be they instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the Glorious fighting Spirit necessary to pursue that passion and soon and very soon soon and very soon we're going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father two idealistic energetic immigrants immigrants how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United States that is the best of America you know you know let me tell you this this election isn't about us and them it's about you and me and what we want our futures to look like there are choices to be made made when we cast our ballot now there's a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time that we'll never have to do it again well you know what you're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again because I'm an American and that's what Americans do voting is the best of America and I have always since I was eligible to vote I've always voted my values and that is what is needed in this election now more than ever so I'm calling on all you Independents and all you undecided you know this is true you know I'm telling you the truth that values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life and more than anything you know this is true that decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024 and and just plain Common Sense Common Sense tells you that kamla Harris and Tim Waltz can give us decency and respect they're the ones to give it to us so we are Americans we are Americans let us choose loyalty to the con Constitution over loyalty to any individual because because that's the best of America and let us choose optimism over cynicism because that's the best of America and let us choose inclusion over retribution let us choose Common Sense over nonsense because that's the best of America and let us choose the sweet promise of Tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday we won't go back we won't be set back pushed back bullied back kicked back we're not going back not going back we're not going back so let us choose let us choose truth let us choose honor and let us choose Joy because that's the best of America but more than anything else let us choose Freedom why because that's the best of America we're all let's all choose Kamala haris thank you Chicago thank you thank you wow well thank you thank you first of all to vice president Harris thanks for for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign and a thank you to President Joe Biden for four years of strong historic leadership it's it's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States we're all we're all here tonight for one beautiful simple reason we love this country so thank you to all of you here in Chicago and all of you watching at home tonight thank you for your passion thank you for your determination and most of all thank you for bringing the joy to this fight now I grew up in but Nebraska a town of 400 people I had 24 kids in my high school class and none of them went to Yale but I'll tell you what growing up in a small town like that you learn how to take care of each other that that family down the road they may not think like you do they may not pray like you do they may not love like you do but they're your neighbors and you look out for them and they look out for you everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute for me it was serving in the Army National Guard I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years my dad a Korean War era Army veteran died of lung cancer a couple years later he left behind a mountain of medical debt thank God for soal soci Security survivor benefits and thank God for the GI bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college and millions of other Americans eventually like the rest of my family I fell in love with teaching three three out of four of us married teachers I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mano West High School go Scarlets we ran we ran a 44 defense we played through to the whistle on every single play and we even won a state championship never Clos the yearbook people but it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress they saw in me what I had hope to instill in them a commitment to the common good an understanding that we're all in this together and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors so there I was a 40something high school teacher with little kids zero political experience and no money running in a deep red District but you know what never underestimate a public school teacher never I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years and I learned an awful lot I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans and I learned how to compromise without compromising my values then I came back to serve as governor and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors lives we cut taxes for the middle class we passed Paid Family and Medical Leave we invested in fighting crime and affordable housing we cut the cost of prescription drugs and help people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family and we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day so while other states were Banning books from their schools we were banishing Hunger from ours we also protected reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make and even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves we've got a golden rule mind your own damn business and that includes IVF infertility treatments this is personal for Gwen and I if you've never experienced the hell that is infertility I guarantee you you know somebody who has and I can remember praying each night for a phone call The Pit in your stomach when the phone had ran and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked it took Gwen and I years but we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was born we named her hope hope Gus and Gwen you are my entire world and I love you I'm letting you in on how we started a family because this is a big part about what this election is about Freedom when rep when Republicans use the word Freedom they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office corporations free to pollute your air in water and banks free to take advantage of customers but when we Democrats talk about Freedom we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love freedom to make your own health care decisions and yeah your kids's freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall look I know guns I'm a veteran I'm a Hunter and I was a better shot than most republicans in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it but I'm also a dad I believe in the Second Amendment but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe that's what this is all about the responsibility we have to our kids to each other and to the Future that we're building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of Life they want but not everyone has that same sense of responsibility some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor take Donald Trump and JD Vance they're project 2025 will make things much much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives they spend a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this but look I coached typ School football long enough to know and trust me on this when somebody takes the time to draw up a Playbook they're going to use it and and we know if these guys get back in the White House they'll start jacking up the costs on the middle class they'll repeal the Affordable Care Act they'll gut Social Security and Medicare and they will ban abortion across this country with or without Congress here's the thing it's an agenda nobody asked for it's a agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us and it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need is it weird absolutely absolutely but it's also wrong and it's dangerous it's not just me saying so it's Trump's own people they were with him for four years they're warning us that the next years will be much much worse you know when I was teaching every year we'd elect a student body president and you know what those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others leaders do the work so I don't know about you I'm ready to turn the page on these guys so go ahead say it with me we're not going back not not we've got something better to offer the American people it starts with our candidate kamla Harris from her first day as a prosecutor as a district attorney as an attorney general as a United States Senator and then our vice president she's fought on the side of the American people she's taken on the Predators and fraudsters she's taken down the transnational gangs and she stood up to powerful corporate interest she has never hesitated to reach across that aisle if it meant improving your lives and she's always done it with energy with passion and with joy folks we've got a chance to make KLA Harris the next president of the United States but I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as president before we ask him for their votes so here this is the part clip and save it and send it to your undecided relatives so they know if your middle class family or a family trying to get into the middle class KLA Harris is going to cut your taxes if you're getting squeezed by prescription drug prices KLA Harris is going to take on big Pharma if you're hoping to buy a home KLA Harris is going to help make it more affordable and no matter who you are kamla Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead because that's what we want for ourselves and it's what we want for our neighbors you know you might not know it but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this but I have given a lot of pep talks so let me let me finish with this team it's the fourth quarter we're down down a field goal but we're on offense and we've got the ball we're driving down the field and boy do we have the right team kamla Harris is top kamla Harris is experienced and Kamala Harris is ready our job our job our job our job for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling one inch at a time one yard at a time one phone call at a time one door knock at a time $5 donation at a time look we got 76 days that's nothing there'll be time to sleep when your Dad we're going to leave it on the field That's How we'll keep moving forward that's how we'll Turn the page on Donald Trump That's How we'll build a country where workers Come First Health Care and housing are human rights and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom that's how we make America a place where no child child is left hungry where no Community is Left Behind where nobody gets told they don't belong that's how we're going to fight and as the next president of the United States always says when we fight when we fight when we fight thank you God bless [Applause] thank you thank you thank you everybody thank you thank you thank you thank you all right all right all right that's enough thank you thank you Chicago it's good to be home it is good to be home and I I don't know about you but I'm feeling fired up I I I am feeling ready to go even if even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle [Applause] Obama I am feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her someone who sees you and hears you and we'll get up every single day and fight for you the next president of the United States of America kamla Harris it's been 16 years since I had the honor of accepting this party's nomination president and I know that's hard to believe because I have not aged a bit but it's true and and looking back I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best and that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president now other other than some common Irish blood Joe and I come from different backgrounds but we became brothers and as we worked together for eight sometimes pretty tough years what I came to admire most about Joe wasn't just as smarts his experience it was his empathy and his decency and his hard earned resilience his unshakable belief that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot and over the last four years those are the values America has needed most at a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right at a time when our economy was reeling we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world's strongest recovery 15 million jobs higher wages lower health care cost at a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality we needed a leader who was steady and brought people together and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country history will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger and I am proud to call him my president but I am even prouder to call him my friend [Applause] thank now the torch has been passed now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in and make no mistake it will be a fight for all the incredible energy we've been able to generate over the last few weeks for all the rallies and the memes this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country a country where too many Americans are still struggling where a lot of Americans don't believe government can help and As We Gather here tonight the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question who will fight for me who's thinking about my future about my children's future about our future together one thing is for certain Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that [Applause] question here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he wrote down his golden escalator nine years ago it has been a constant stream of of gripes and grievances that that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Comm there's the childish nicknames the crazy conspiracy theories this weird obsession with crowd sizes it it I it just goes on and on and on the other day I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every every day now from a neighbor that's exhausting from a president it's just dangerous the the the truth is Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than it means to his ends he wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his rich friends he killed a bipartisan immigration deal written in part by one of the most conservative republicans in Congress that would have helped secure our Southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign he doesn't do not boo vote he doesn't seem to care if more women lose their reproductive Freedom since it won't affect his life and most of all Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and Them between The Real Americans who of course support him and The Outsiders who don't and he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place it it is one of the oldest tricks in politics from a guy whose act has let's face it gotten pretty stale we do not need four more years of Bluster and bumbling and Chaos we have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse America's ready for a new chapter America's ready for a better story we are ready for a president kamla Harris and KLA Harris is ready for the job this is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion as you heard from Michelle Kamala was not born into privilege she had to work for what she's got and she actually cares about what other people are going through she's not the neighbor running the leaf blower she's the neighbor rushing over to help when you need a hand as a prosecutor KLA stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse as an attorney general of the most populous state in the country she fought big Banks and for-profit Oles securing billions of dollars for the people they had scammed after the Home Mortgage crisis she pushed me and my Administration hard to make sure homeowners got a fair settleman didn't matter that I was a Democrat didn't matter that she had knocked on doors for my campaign in Iowa she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it as vice president she helped take on the drug companies to cap the cost of insulin lower the cost of Health Care give families with kids a tax cut and she is running for president with real plans to lower costs even more and protect Medicare and Medicaid and sign a law to guarantee every woman's right to make her own health care decisions in other words KLA Harris won't be focused on her problems she'll be focused on yours as president she won't just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee she'll work on behalf of every American that's who kamla is and in the white house she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim walz let let me tell you something let me let me tell you something I love this guy Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics born in a small town served his country taught kids coached football took care of his neighbors he knows who he is and he knows what's important you can tell those those flannel shirts he wears don't come from some political consultant they come from his closet and they have been through some stuff they have been through some stuff that's right together kamla and Tim have kept Faith with America's Central story a story that says we are all created equal all of us endowed with certain in inable rights that everyone deserves a chance that even when we don't agree with each other we can find a way to live with each other that's K's Vision that's Tim's Vision that's the Democratic party's vision and our job over the next 11 weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that vision [Music] now it won't be easy the other side knows it's easier to play on people's fears and cynicism always has been they will tell you that government is inherently corrupt that that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers and since the game is rigged it's okay to take what you want and just look after your own that's the easy path we have a different task our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver and and in doing that we can't just point to what we've already accomplished we can't just rely on the ideas of the past we need to chart a new way forward to meet the challenges of today and kamla understands this she knows for example that if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home we need to build more units and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that made it harder to build homes for working people in this country that is a priority and she's put out a bold new plan to you just that on healthc care we should all be proud of the enormous progress that we've made through the Affordable Care providing millions of people access to Affordable coverage protecting Millions more from unscrupulous Insurance practices and I noticed by the way that since it's become popular they don't call it Obamacare no more but kamla knows we can't stop there which is why she'll keep working to limit out of pocket costs commin knows that if we want to help people get ahead we need to put a college degree Within Reach of more Americans but but she also knows College shouldn't be the only ticket to the middle class we need to follow the lead of Governors like Tim Walls who said if you've got the skills and the drive you shouldn't need a degree to work for state government and in this new economy we need a president who actually cares about the millions of people all across this country who wake up every single day to do the essential often thankless work to care for our sick to clean our streets to deliver our packages we need a president who will stand up for their right to bargain for better wages and working conditions and kamla will be that President yes she can yes she can a Harris Waltz Administration can help us move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress because at their core Kel and Tim understand that when everybody gets a fair shot we are all better off they understand that when every child gets a good education the whole economy gets stronger when women are paid the same as men for doing the same job All Families benefit they understand that we can secure our borders without tearing kids away from their parents just like we can keep our streets safe while also building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and eliminating that will make it better for everybody Donald Trump and his well-healed donors they don't see the world that way for them one group's gains is necessarily another group's loss for them Freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please whether it's firew workers trying to organize a union or put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everybody else has to do well we have a broader idea of freedom we believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you're willing to work hard the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they'll come home we believe that true Freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life how we worship what our family looks like how many kids we have who we marry and we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours that's okay that's the America KLA Harris and Tim Walls believe in an America Where We the People includes everyone because that's the only way this American experiment works and despite what our politics might suggest I think most Americans understand that democracy isn't just a bunch of abstract principles and and and dusty laws in in some book somewhere it's the values we live by it's the way we treat each other including those who don't look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do that that sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message our politics have become so polarized these days that all of us across the political Spectrum seem so quick to assume the worst in others unless they agree with us on every single issue we start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out yell the other side and after a while regular folks just tune out or they don't bother to vote now that approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division but it won't work for us to make progress on the things we care about the things that really really affect people's lives we we need to remember that we've all got our blind spots and and contradictions and and prejudices and that if we want to win over those who aren't yet ready to support our candidates we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process a after all if a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe we we don't automatically assume they're bad people we recognize that the world is moving fast that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up our fellow citizens deserve the same Grace we hope they'll extend to us that's how we can build a true Democratic majority that's right one that can get things done and by the way that does not just matter to the people in this country the rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull this off no Nation no Society has ever tried to build a democracy as big and as diverse as ours before one that includes people that over decades have come from every corner of the globe one where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood but by a common Creed and that's why when we uphold our values the world's a little brighter when we don't the world's a little dimmer and dictators and autocrats feel emboldened and over time we become less safe we shouldn't be the world's policemen and we can't eradicate every cruelty and Injustice in the world but America can be and must be a force for good discouraging conflict fighting disease promoting human rights protecting the planet from climate change defending Freedom brokering peace that's what kamla Harris believes and so do most Americans now all right I I I I I I know these ideas can feel pretty naive right now we live in a time of such confusion and ranker with a culture that puts a premium on things that don't last money Fame status likes we chase the approval of strangers on our phones we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then we wonder why we feel so alone we don't trust each other as much because we don't take the time to know each other and in that space between us politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other but here's the good news Chicago all across America in big cities and small towns away from all the noise the ties that bind us together are still there we still coach little league and look out for our elderly neighbors we still feed the hungry in churches and mosques and synagogues and temples we share the same Pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold because because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that's bitter and divided we want something better we want to be better and the joy and the excitement that we're seeing around this campaign tells us we're not alone you know I've spent a lot of time thinking about this these past few months because as Michelle mentioned uh this summer we lost her mom Miss Mary and Robinson and I don't know that anybody has ever loved their mother-in-law any more than I love mine now mostly it's because she was funny and wise and the least pretentious person I knew that and she always defended me with Michelle when I messed up I'd hide behind her but I also think one of the reasons Mary and I became so close was she reminded me of my grandmother the woman who helped raise me as a child and on the surface the two of them did not have a lot in common one was a black woman from right here Southside of Chicago right down the way went to Anglewood High School the other was a little old white lady born in a tiny town called Peru Kansas now I know there aren't that many people from [Applause] per and yet they shared a basic outlook on life there were strong smart resourceful women full of Common Sense who regardless of the barriers they encountered and women growing up in the 40s and 50s and 60 they they encountered barriers they still went about their business without fuss or complaint and provided an unshakable Foundation of love for their children and their grandchildren in that sense they both represented an entire generation of working people who through war and depression discrimination and limited opportunity helped build this country a lot of them toiled every day at jobs that were often too small for them and didn't pay a lot they willingly went without just to keep a roof over their fam's heads just to give their children something better but they knew what was true They Knew What mattered things like honesty and integrity kindness and hard [Music] work they weren't they weren't impressed with brager's or bullies they they they they didn't think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong they didn't spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn't have instead they appreciated what they did they they they they found pleasure in simple things a c game with friends a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table helping others and most of all seeing their children do things and go places that they would have never imagined for themselves whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between we have all had people like that in our lives people like Common's parents who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America people like Tim's parents who taught him about the importance of service good hardworking people who weren't famous or powerful but who managed in countless ways to lead this country just a little bit better than they found it as much as any policy or program I believe that's what we yearn for a return to an America where we work together and look at out for each other a restoration of what Lincoln called on the eve of Civil War are bonds of affection an America that Taps what he called the better angels of our nature that is what this election is about and I believe that's why if we each do our part over the next 77 days if we knock on doors if we make phone calls if we talk to our friends if we listen to our neighbors if we work like we've never worked before if we hold firm to our convictions we will elect KLA Harris as the next president of the United States and Tim RS as the next Vice President of the United States we will elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful forward-looking America we all believe in and together we too will build a country that is more secure and more just more equal and more free so let's get to work God bless you and God bless the United States of America okay we got a big night ahead thank you all so much thank you so much okay hey hello Chicago yeah all right something I I something wonderfully magical is in the air isn't it yeah you know we're feeling it here in this Arena but it's spreading all across this country we love a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long you know what I'm talking about it's the contagious power of Hope the anticipation the energy the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day the chance to Vanquish the Demons of fear Division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing The Unfinished promise of this great nation the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for America hope is making a comeback yeah but to be honest I am realizing that until recently I have mourned the dimming of that hope and maybe you've experienced the same feelings is that deep pit in my stomach a palpable sense of dread about the future and for me that mour has also been mixed with my own personal grief the last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency the woman who set my moral compass High ey and showed me the power of my own voice folks I still feel her loss so profoundly I wasn't even sure if I'd Be steady enough to stand before you tonight but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense I of Duty that I feel to honor her memory and and to and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future you see my mom in her steady quiet way lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life she believed that all children all all all people have value that anyone can succeed have given the opportunity she and my father didn't aspire to be wealthy in fact they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed they understood that it wasn't enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning so my mother volunteered at the local school she she always looked out for the other Kids on the Block she was glad to do the thankless unglamorous work that for Generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation the belief that if you do unto others if you love thy neighbor if you work and scrape and sacrifice it will pay off if not for you then maybe for your children or your grandchildren you see those values have been passed on through Family Farms and Factory towns through Treeline streets and crowded tenements through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath KLA Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart they shared the same belief in the promise of this country that's why her mother moved here from India at 19 it's why she taught kamla about Justice about the obligation to lift others up about our responsibility who give more than we take she'd often tell her daughter don't sit around and complain about things do something so with that voice in her head kamla went out and she worked hard in school graduating from an HBCU earning her law degree at a state school and then she went on to work for the people fighting to hold law Breakers accountable strengthening the rule of law fighting to get folks better wages cheaper prescription drugs a good education decent Health Care Child Care Elder Care from a middle class household kamla worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America my girl KLA Harris is more than ready for this moment she is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency and she is one of the most dignified a tribute to her mother to my mother and to your mother too the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country her story is your story it's my story it's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life look kamla knows like we do that regardless of where you come from what you look like who you love how you worship or what's in your bank account we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American no one Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation not by spewing anger and bitterness but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others she understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth if if we bankrupt a business if we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis we don't get a second third or fourth chance if things don't go our way we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead no we don't get to change the rules so we always win if we see a mountain in front of us we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top no we put our heads down we get to work in America we do something and throughout her entire life that's what we've seen from kamla Harris the steel of her spine the steadiness of her upbringing the honesty of her example and yes the joy of her laughter and her light it couldn't be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race only KLA Harris truly understands the Unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great now un fortunately we know what comes next we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth my husband and I sadly know a little something about this for years Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the resistance of two hardwork and highly educated successful people who happen to be black wait I I I want to know I want to know who's going to tell him who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs look it's his same old con his same old con doubling down on ugly misogynistic racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better look because cutting our health care taking away our freedom to control our bodies the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives mothers and daughters shutting down the Department of Education Banning our books none of that will prepare our kidss for the future demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love look that doesn't make anybody's life better instead instead it only makes us small and let me tell you this going small is never the answer going small is the the opposite of what we teach our kids going small is petty it's unhealthy and quite frankly it's unpresidential so why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office why would we normalize that type of backward leadership doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics it only serves to further discourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America our parents taught us better than that and we deserve so much better than that that's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people there is no other choice Choice than kamla Harris and Tim Walls no other choice but as we Embrace this renewed sense of hope let us not forget the despair we have felt let us not forget what we are up against yes kamla and him are doing great now we're loving it they're packing Arenas across the country folks are energized we are feeling good but remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome who are ready to question and criticize every move kamla makes who are eager to spread those lies who don't want to vote for a woman who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring that everyone has enough so no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day this is going to be an uphill battle so folks we cannot be our own worst enemies no see because the minute something goes wrong the minute a lie takes hold folks we cannot start ringing our hands we cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right and we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like kamla instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected kamla and Tim they have lived amazing lives and I I am confident that they will lead with compassion inclusion and Grace but they are still only human they are not perfect and like all of us they will make mistakes but luckily y'all this is not just on them nah uhuh this is up to us all of us to be the solution that we seek it's up to all of us to be the anecdote to the darkness and division look I don't care how you identify politically whether you're Democrat Republican independent or none of the above this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right to stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and Humanity for basic respect dignity and empathy for the values at the very Foundation of this democracy it's up to us to remember what kamla's mother told her don't just sit around and complain do do something so if they lie about her and they will we've got to do something if we see a bad poll and we will we got to put down that phone and do something if we start feeling tired if we start feeling that dread creeping back in we got to pick ourselves up throw water on our face and what we only have two and 1 half months y'all to get this done only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan so we cannot afford for anyone anyone anyone America to sit on their hands and wait to be called don't complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask you for your support there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness you know what you need to do so consider this to be your official ask Michelle Obama is asking you no I'm telling y'all to do something [Applause] because you all this election is going to be close in some states just a handful listen to me a handful of votes in every Precinct could decide the winner so we need to vote in numbers that have raas any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us our fate is in our hands in 77 days we have the power to turn our country away from the fear Division and smallness of the past we have the power to marry our hope with our action we have the power to pay forward the love sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us we did it before y'all and we sure can do it again let us work like our lives depend on it and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher yes always higher than we've ever gone before as we elect the next president and vice president of the United States KLA Harris and Tim Walls thank you than you all God bless W lot of energy in this room just like there is across the country something something is happening in America you can feel it something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time first though let's salute President Biden [Applause] he he has been democracy's champion at home and abroad he brought dignity decency and confidence back to the White House and he showed what it means to be a true patriot thank you you Joe Biden for your lifetime of service and [Applause] Leadership and now and now we are writing a new chapter in America America's story you know my mother Dorothy was born right here in Chicago before women had the right to vote that changed 104 years ago yesterday think about it Tennessee became the final state to ratify the 19 th amendment to the Constitution the state legislature was deadlocked until one lawm Maker's mother a widow who read three newspapers a day sent a letter a letter to her son no more delays she wrote give us the vote and since that day every generation has carried the torch forward in 1972 a Fearless black congresswoman named Shirley Chisum she ran for president and her determination let me and millions of others dream bigger not just because of who she was but because of who she fought for working parents poor children the last the least and the lost in 1984 I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro the first woman nominated for vice president if we can do this Jerry said we can do and anything and then there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president and and nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceing Lings on our dreams and afterwards we refused to give up on America Millions marched many ran for office we kept our eyes on the future well my friends the future is here I wish my mother and kamla's mother could see us they would say keep going shley and Jerry would say keep going women women fighting for Reproductive Health Care are saying keep going families building Better Lives parents stretching to afford Child Care young people struggling to pay their rent they're all asking us to keep going so with faith in each other and joy in our hearts let's send kamla Harris at Tim Walls to the White House you know the story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible but not guaranteed we have to fight for it and never ever give up there is always a choice do we push forward or pull back come together as we the people or split into US versus them that's the choice we face in this election comma has the character experience and vision to lead us forward I I know her heart and her Integrity we both got our start as young lawyers helping children who were abused and neglected that kind of work changes a person those kids stay with you kamla carries with her the hopes of every child she protected every family she helped every Community she served so as president she will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us she will fight to lower costs for hardworking families open the doors wide for good paying jobs and yes she will restore abortion rights Nationwide as a prosecutor kamla locked up murderers and Drug traffickers she will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and when he woke up he made his own kind of History the first person to run for president with 34 felony [Applause] convictions as vice president as vice president Kamala sat in the Situation Room [Applause] but we also know as vice president Kamala sat in the situation room and stood for America's values I know what it takes and I can tell you as commander and chief ala won't disrespect our military and our veterans she she reveres our Medal of Honor recipient she won't be sending love letters to [Applause] dictators she will defend democracy and our Constitution and will protect America from enemies foreign and domestic think about it the Constitution says the president's job is to take care that the laws be Faithfully executed those are the words of our founders take care just look at the candidates calent cares cares about kids and families cares about America Donald only cares about [Applause] himself on her first day in court kamla said five words that still guide her kamla Harris for the people that is something that Donald Trump will never understand so it is no surprise is it that he is lying about kamla's record he's mocking her name and her laugh sounds familiar but we have him on the run now so so no matter what the polls say we can't let up we can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes we have to fight for the truth we have to fight for kamla as she will fight for us because you know what it still takes a village to raise a family heal a country and win a campaign and America needs every one of us our energy our talents our dreams we're not just electing a president we're uplifting our nation we're opening the promise of America wide enough for everyone together we put a lot of cracks in the highest hardest glass ceiling and tonight tonight so close to breaking through once and for all I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us what do I see I see freedom I see the freedom to make our own decisions about our health Our lives our loves our families the freedom to work with dignity and prosper to worship as we choose or not not to speak our minds freely and honestly I see Freedom From Fear and intimidation from violence and Injustice from chaos and Corruption I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say America you can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you and mean it and you know what the other side of that glass ceiling is kamla Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States because my friends when a barrier Falls for one of us it falls it falls and clears the way for all of us so for the next 78 days we need to work harder than we ever have we need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life don't get distracted or complacent talk to your friends and Neighbors volunteer be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love I want I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment that we were here and that we were with kamla Harris every step of the way this is our time America this is when we stand stand up this is when we break through the future is here it's in our grasp let's go with it I'm Adam kinzinger and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward Alliance that we have to defend truth defend democracy and decency I was just a kid when I re was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan to his vision of a strong America The Shining City on a Hill I was a republican for 12 years in Congress and I still hold on to the label I never thought I'd be here but listen you never thought you'd see me here did you but I've learned something about the Democratic party and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret the Democrats are as patriotic as us they they love this country just as much as we do and they and and they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been I was relieved to discover that because I've learned something about my party too something I couldn't ignore the Republican party is no longer conservative it has switched its Allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong he is a small man pretending to be big he's a faithless man pretending to be righteous he's a Purp arbitrator who can't stop playing the victim he puts on listen he he he puts on quite a show but there is no real strength there as a conservative and a veteran I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable it's in protecting your family it's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy that that is the soul of being a conservative it used to be the soul of being a republican but Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party his fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness sapping our strength softening our spine whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a Siege on the United States capital that day I stood witness to a profound sorrow the desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition of power tarnished by a Man Too fragile too Vain and too weak to accept defeat how can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election how how can a party claim to stand for Liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine an attack pitting tyranny against democracy a challenge to everything our nation claims to be and it Retreats it equivocates it nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin and his running mate his running mate who said quote vote I don't care what happens in Ukraine yeah he wants to be vice president yeah how can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forebearers fought for men like my grandfather who served in World War II who believed in a cause bigger than himself and he risked his life for it Behind Enemy Lines to preserve American democracy his generation Found the courage to to face down armies listen all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man some some have questioned some have questioned why I've taken the stand I have the answer is really simple ladies and gentlemen we must put country first and tonight and tonight as a republican speaking before you I'm putting our country first because the fact is I do belong here I know KLA Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law the Constitution and democracy and she is dedicated to upold upholding all three in service to our country whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle of decency and of fidelity to this nation listen to my fellow Republicans if you still pledge allegiance to those principles I suspect you belong here too because because democracy knows no party it's a it's a living breathing ideal that defines us as a nation it's the Bedrock that separates us from tyranny and when that Foundation is fractured we must all Stand Together United to strengthen it if you think those principles are worth defending then I urge you make the right choice vote vote for our Bedrock values and vote for kamla Harris God bless you hello fellow Americans I'm Gabby gers I was born in the great state of Arizona I was born with grit I grew up racing motorcycles McKing stalls and exploring the beautiful desert I fell for an astronaut for five years I served in Congress from a swing District everybody called me a rising star then on January 8th 2011 a man tried to assassinate me he shot 19 people he killed six terrible terrible day I almost died but I fought for my life and I survived I learn to walk again one step at a time I learned to talk again one word at a time so many people helped me as I worked hard to recover including a decent man for Delaware who always checked in in he still does thank you Joe Biden thank you for everything Joe is a great president my friend kamla will be a great president she is tough she has grit kamla can beat the gun lobby she can fight gun trafficking pela stood up to Wall Street on the drug company she will protect abortion access she will defend our freedom she save lives join me in voting for kamla Harris thank you I'm Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Lancing they call me Governor but in Detroit they call me big Gretch Donald Trump called me that woman from Michigan as an insult being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor like women across America we just GSD get stuff done at 29 I joined the sandwich generation sandwiched between working and raising my newborn and caring for my mom who was dying from brain cancer it was hard but not extraordinary it's life those nights reminded me who I was fighting for people just trying to make it kamla Harris knows who she's fighting for too she took care of her mom who also battled cancer as president she'll fight to lower the cost of Health Care and elder care for every family she's lived a life like ours she knows us Donald Trump doesn't know you at all you think he understands that when your car breaks down you can't get to work no his first word was probably chauffeur you think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out hell you think he's ever been to a grocery store that's what the chauffeur is for but kamla Harris she gets us she sees us she is us look we've all lived through a lot of history over the past few years floods and fires and attempted coup a plot and a pandemic it's exhausting we don't know what the next four years will bring but what we do know is this through it all your life won't stop you're going to have to get to work pick up the kids and pay your bills and then one day when you're just trying to get everyone out the door a news alert goes off something happened something hit the fan you'll ask is my family going to be okay and then you'll ask who the hell is in charge what if it's him what what if it's that man from maril Argo I know in a crisis we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan to tell the truth and to bring people together right now before the crisis is when we get to choose why wouldn't we choose the leader who's tough tested and a total badass I know who I want as our commanderin-chief America let's choose kamla Harris California good evening everyone good evening good evening oh my goodness good evening everyone good evening good good evening thank you thank you thank you good evening thank you thank you thank thank you thank you thank you everyone thank you thank you thank you thank you all thank you all okay we got to get to some business we got to get to some business okay thank you all okay thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you please thank you please thank you so very much thank you everyone thank you everyone thank you okay let's get to business let's get to business all right so let me start by thanking my most incredible husband [Music] Doug for being an incredible partner to me an incredible father to Cole Ella and happy anniversary douge I love you so very much to our president Joe Biden when I think about the path that we have traveled together Joe I am filled with gratitude your record is extraordinary as history will show and your character is inspiring and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both and to coach Tim Walls you are going to be an incredible vice president and to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign your support is humbling so America the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected but I'm no stranger to unlikely Journeys so my mother our mother shamala Harris had one of her own and I miss her every day and especially right now and I know she's looking down smiling I know that so my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would Cure breast cancer when she finished school she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage but as fate would have it she met my father Donald Harris a student from Jamaica [Applause] they they fell in love and got married and that act of self-determination made my sister mayia and Me growing up we moved a lot I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings ready to go to Illinois to Wisconsin and where wherever our parents' jobs took us my early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones a home filled with laughter and music artha cold train and miles at the park my mother would say stay close but my father would say as he smiled run kamla run Don't Be Afraid don't let anything stop you from my earliest years he taught me to be Fearless but the harmony between my parents did not last when I was in elementary school they split up and it was mostly my mother who raised us before she could finally afford to buy a home she rented a small apartment in the East Bay in the bay in the bay you either live in the Hills or the Flatlands we lived in the flats a beautiful workingclass neighborhood of firefighters nurses and construction workers all who tended their lawns with pride my mother she worked long hours and like many working parents leaned on a trusted Circle to help raise us Mrs Shelton who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother Uncle Sherman Aunt Mary uncle Freddy Auntie Chris none of them family by Blood and all of them family by love family who taught us how to make gumbo how to play chess and sometimes even let us win family Who Loved Us believed in us and told us we could be anything and do anything they instilled in us the values they personified Community faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated with kindness respect and compassion my mother was a brilliant 5 foot tall brown woman with an accent and as the eldest child as the eldest child I saw how the world would sometimes treat her but my mother never lost her cool she was tough courageous a Trailblazer in the fight for Women's Health and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night she taught us to never complain about Injustice but do something about it do something about it that was my mother and she taught us and she always she also taught us and she also taught us and never do anything half asked and that is a direct quote a direct quote I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement my parents had met at a civil rights Gathering and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders including the lawyers like th Good Marshall and Constance Baker Motley those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America so at a young age I decided I wanted to do that work I wanted to be a lawyer and when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life you see when I was in high school I started to notice something about my best friend she was sad at school and there were times she didn't want to go home so one day I asked if everything was all right and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather and I immediately told her she had to come stay with us and she did this is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety to dignity and to Justice as a prosecutor when I had a case I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people for a simple reason in our system of justice a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us and I would often explain this to console survivors of crime to remind them no one should be made to fight alone we are all in this together and every day in the courtroom I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words comma Harris for the people and to be clear and to be clear my entire career I've only had one client the people and so on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party race gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely Journey on behalf of of a Americans like the people I grew up with people who work hard chase their dreams and look out for one another on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America and with this election and and with this election our nation our nation with this election has a precious fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness cynicism and divisive battles of the past a chance to chart a new way forward not not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans and let me say I know there are people of various political views new watching tonight and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans you can always trust me to put country above party and self to hold sacred America's fundamental principles from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power I will be a President Who unites us around our highest aspirations a president who leads and listens who is realistic practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people from the courthouse to the White House that has been my life's work as a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland California I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them as Attorney General of California I took on the big Banks delivered $20 billion ERS for middle class families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights one of the first of its kind in the nation I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges for workers who are being cheated out of their wages the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse I fought against the cartels who traffick in guns and drugs and human beings who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities and I will tell you these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices we were underestimated at practically every turn but we never gave up because the future is always worth fighting for and that's the fight we are in right now a fight for America's future fellow Americans this election is not only only the most important of Our Lives it is one of the most important in the life of our nation in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man but the consequences but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extr extremely serious consider consider not only the chaos and Calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes when he failed he sent an armed mob to the United States capital where they assaulted Law Enforcement Officers when politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help he did the opposite he fanned the flames and now for an entirely different set of crimes he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse and consider consider what he intends to do if we give him power again consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the capital his explicit intent to jail journalists political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy his explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens consider consider the power he will have especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from Criminal prosecution just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life not to strengthen our National Security but to serve the only client he has ever had himself and we know and we know what a second Trump term would look like it's all laid out in Project 2025 written by his closest advisors and its sum total is to pull our country back to the past but America we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare we are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions we are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our Public Schools we are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and child care for our children America we are not going back and we are charting and we are charting a new way forward forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America's success and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency and I'll tell you this is personal for me the middle class is where I come from my mother kept a strict budget we lived within our means yet we wanted for little and she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them because as she taught us opportunity is not available to everyone that's why we will create what I call an opportunity economy an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed whether you live in a rural area small town or big city and as president I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like Health Care and housing and groceries we will provide access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs and Founders and we will and America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare now compare that to Donald Trump because I think everyone here knows he doesn't actually fight for the middle class not he doesn't actually fight for the middle class instead he fights for himself and his billionaire friends and he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt and all the while he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax call it a trump tax that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $44,000 a year well instead of a trump tax hike we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans friends I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives especially on matters of heart and home but tonight in America too many women are not able to make those decisions and let's be clear about how we got here Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom and now he brags about it in his words quote I did it and I'm proud to have done it end quote well I'll tell you over the past two years I've traveled across our country and women have told me their stories husbands and fathers have shared theirs stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot developing sepsis losing the ability to ever again have children all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients couples just trying to grow their family cut off in the middle of IVF treatments children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term this is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump and understand he is not done as a part of his agenda he and his allies would limit access to birth control ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress and get this get this he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and for states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions simply put they are out of their minds and one must ask one must ask why exactly is it that they don't trust women women well we trust women we trust women and when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive Freedom as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law in this election many other fundamental freedoms are at stake the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools communities and places of worship the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis and the freedom that unlocks all the others the freedom to vote with this election we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the freedom to vote act and let me be clear and let me be clear after decades in law enforcement I know the importance of Safety and Security especially at our border last year Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades the border patrol endorsed it but Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal well I refuse to play politics with our security and here is my pledge to you as president I will bring back the bipartisan border of security bill that he killed and I will sign it into law I know I know we can live up to our proud Heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system we can create an earned Pathway to citizenship and secure our border and America we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad as vice president I have confronted threats to our security negotiated with foreign leaders strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas as commanderin-chief I will ensure America always has the strongest most lethal fighting force in the world and I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice I will make sure that we leave the world world into the future on space and artificial intelligence that America not China wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen not abdicate our Global Leadership Trump on the other hand threatened to abandon NATO he encouraged Putin to invade our allies said Russia could quote do whatever the hell they want 5 days before Russia attacked Ukraine I met with president zalinski to warn him about Russia's plan to invade I helped mobilize a Global Response over 50 countries to defend against Putin's aggression and as president I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies with respect to the war in Gaza President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done and let me be clear and let let me be clear I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7 including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival at the same time what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating so many innocent lives lost desperate hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again the scale of suffering is heartbroken breaking President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure the hostages are released the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity security freedom and self-determination and know this I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and iran-backed terrorists I will not cozy up to Tyrant and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump who are rooting for Trump because you know they know they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors they know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself and as president I will never waver in defense of America's security and ideals because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs so fellow Americans fellow Americans I I love our country with all my heart everywhere I Go Everywhere I Go in everyone I meet I see a nation that is ready to move forward ready for the next step in The Incredible Journey that is America I see an America where we hold fast to The Fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world that here in this country anything is possible that nothing is Out Of Reach an America where we care for one another look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us that none of us none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed and that in unity there is strength you know our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America talking about how terrible everything is well my mother had another lesson she used to teach never let anyone tell you who you are you show them who you are America let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for Freedom opportunity compassion dignity fairness and Endless Possibilities we are the hirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world and on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty we must be worthy of this moment it is now our turn to do what Generations before us have done Guided by optimism and Faith to fight for this country we love to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth the privilege and pride of being an American so let's get out there let's let's fight for it let's get out there let's vote for it and together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary Story Ever Told thank you God bless you and may God bless the United States of America thank oh got you know what I love best about kamla Harris kamla Harris can't be bought and she can't be bought lost around now I first met kamla in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash the banks had flat out broken laws cheated people and stolen homes millions of Americans had lost their jobs their savings their homes now I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go cfv yeah kamla was protecting families as California's attorney general you bet and Donald was scamming students at Trump University and trying to make money off people losing their homes KLA Harris stepped up she enforced the law she fought the giant Banks and she delivered billions of dollars of help for families and that is the difference between a criminal and a prosecutor you know what else I love about kamla she gets it we need to make life more affordable for working people yeah Donald Trump the Felon has no plans to lower cost for families he doesn't know how and basically he doesn't really care when did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill the only bills he worries about are from his criminal defense lawyers but kamla she cares deep down and she will take on the giant corporations that are squeezing American families in fact it's something she's done before during the California wildfires she went after the price gougers during the pandemic we worked together in the Senate to stop price gouging and as president she will lower costs for your family she'll take on the Wall Street firms that buy up millions of houses and apartments and then jack up the rent she'll take on drug companies that charge an arm and a leg for prescriptions she'll take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumer and billionaires who don't pay taxes and she'll take on right-wing extremists who think they should decide who has access to abortion or IVF kamla will protect abortion rights Nationwide yeah and there it is groceries gas housing Health Care taxes abortion trust Donald Trump and JD fans to look out for your family shoot I wouldn't let those guys I wouldn't trust them to move my couch we need comma Harris this election is about your family and your future I've seen KLA Harris fight I've seen her win and when it comes to our families and our futures kamla Harris is someone we can trust so here it is with joy in our hearts let's elect kamla Harris the next president of the United States hello Democrats [Applause] so President Obama had a follow Michelle I had a follow Gabby and pink Gabby amazes me every single day she was able to walk out and address you tonight because she's a fighter and thanks to a team of doctors nurses and especially her speech therapist we all need a team I've flown into space four times I've flown into combat nearly 40 times not once did I do that by myself it took a team to accomplish a mission it always does I flew in the Navy during the first Gulf War America rallied our allies to kick out a tyrant who invaded a neighbor today Vladimir Putin is testing whether we're still that strong Iran North Korea and especially China watch closely what's Trump's answer he invited Russia to do and these are his words not mine whatever the hell they want vice president Harris has always championed America's support for NATO for [Music] Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people on the Senate intelligence committee she investigated Russian interference in our election she defends free and fair elections everywhere you already know how Trump feels about those Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings he was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one [Applause] himself Trump thinks that Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice are suckers and losers if we fall for that again and make him the commanderin-chief the only suckers would be us K Harris knows that standing with their allies means standing up for Americans she'll keep mizing our military to support our troops and to support our veterans like our next vice president Tim Walls the world laughs at Trump literally but folks it is not funny when he was president that meant the world was laughing at us the threats we Face are too serious the sacrifices our service members make are too sacred the alliances we've spent decades building are too critical that's what's at stake now and the choice the choice isn't even close but in Arizona and Nationwide this election will be we'll win in the same way we launch rockets into space and out land fighter jets on an aircraft carrier as one team on one Mission state by state voter by voter coming together no country no country is better than ours at solving big problems so on November 5th let's prove that America is still the leader the world needs today by the electing the leader we need right now kamla Harris thank you everybody thank you please welcome former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] whoa let me ask you for after the last two days aren't you proud to be a Democrat and I am very grateful to the Republicans and independents that have joined us have been up here on the stage and I hope they feel better about it now because I've seen all these things that even I have to be reminded of from time to time when I get my spirits down I love seeing the Obamas here I love seeing President [Music] Biden and I thought Hillary gave a great speech too and uh I love but I I love seeing all these young leaders bunch of them are coming up after me they look better they sound better and they'll be exciting I do want to say one word about President Biden remember he had an improbable turn that made him president and we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash he healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work and he strengthen our alliances for peace and security he stood up for Ukraine he's trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East and then he did something that's really hard for a politician to do he voluntarily gave up political power and George Washington knew that and he did it and he set the standard for us serving two turns before it was mandatory it helped his legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden's Legacy and you and it's a stark contrast to what goes on in the other party so I want to thank him for his courage compassion his class his service his sacrifice Joe Biden thank you he kept the faith and he's infected a lot of the rest of us now let's cut to the chase I am too old to Gil the Lily two days ago I turned 78 the oldest man in my family for four generations and the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump last night last night in what I thought was a very moving series of episodes we nominated Comm Harris and Tim Waltz and just think about that too Le Leaders with allamerican but still improbable life stories It could only happen here their careers after all started in community courtrooms and classrooms two leaders who spent a lifetime getting the good job done now one of the things that I've noticed over my increasingly long life that is a a presidential election is unique in several ways first of all it's the greatest job interview for the greatest job in the world secondly the Constitution says we the people get to do the hiring and the third thing is that every four years we to change the requirements for the job so here's what I'm thinking because I try to apply this in every election will this President take us backward or forward will this President give our kids a brighter future depends will this President bring us together or tear us apart will the president increase the peace security and stability and freedom that we enjoy and extend it to others as we can we the people we have to make a decision about these kind of questions and every four years it's a little different because the people come at the candidates come at the candidates and they say as they're saying now here are our problems solve them here are our opportunities seize them here are our fears ease them here are our dreams help them come true a president can answer that call by saying I'll do my part but you have to help me we have to work together or you can dodge what needs to be done by dividing distracting and diverting us so in 2024 we got a pretty clear choice it seems to me comma Harris for the people and the other guy who's proved even more than the first go around that he's about me myself and and I I know which one I like better for our country comma Harris will work to solve our problems seize our opportunities ease our fears and make sure every single American however they vote has a chance to chase their dreams you know when she was young she worked at McDonald's and she greeted every person with that thousand wat smile and said how can I help you now she's at the Pinnacle of power and she's still asking how can I help you I will be I'll be so happy when she actually enters the White House's president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at mcdonals now but we got an election to win and remember we've got a guy that's pretty good at what he does Donald Trump has been a paragon of consistency he's still dividing he's still blaming he's still belittling other people he creates chaos and then he sort of curates it as if it were Precious Heart let me say not a single day goes by even though I've been gone for well over 23 years from the White House not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what it meant and one of the reasons thank you wait wait wait wait one of the reasons one of the reasons I love the job so much is that in the toughest times even on the darkest days if you tried hard enough there was always something good you could do for somebody else now some days that's not easy to do You' got to deal with all these emergencies or there's something going on here there yonder but common Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision the experience the temperament the will and yes the sheer joy to get something done I mean look what is her opponent do with his voice he mostly talks about himself right so the next time you hear him don't count the lies count the eyes count the eyes his vendettas his Vengeance his complaints his conspiracies he's like one of those teners opening up before he walks out on stage like I did trying to get his lungs open by saying me me me me me me [Applause] when Cela Harris is President every day we'll begin with you you you you so we got to ask ourselves the questions if we're going to hire a president Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up and the middle out or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd size you're going to have a hard time believing this but so help me I triple checked it since the end of the Cold War in 1989 America has created about 51 million new jobs I swear I checked this three times even I couldn't believe it what's the score Democrats 50 Republicans one I'm I'm glad that we've got a championship winning coach on our team but even the most limited of us and what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you're got 50 and the other side's got one you're ahead what about affordable housing it's a terrible problem in America now we need more and affordable health care it's why the Democrats put a limit on money monthly payments for insulin and a $2,000 a year out of pocket limit and are trying to cover more drugs by bargaining for prices we need more financing for small businesses we need still to strengthen our alliances I almost croaked in the first debate of this election season when President Trump said nobody respected America anymore like they did when he was president wait wait and with a straight face look you got to give him he's a good actor with a with a straight face he cited has evidence of the respect that existed for us when he was there the presidents of North Korea and Russia I'd rather have the people who respect us now and one of the things one of the things is when you send a signal to the other countries you want them to know whether they agree with you or not at least that you're on the level that here's where you are and what you believe what are they supposed to make to these endless tributes to the late great Hannibal Lector [Applause] I mean President Obama once gave me the great honor of saying I was the explainer and chief folks I thought and thought about it and I I don't know what to [Applause] say like Kem Jeff I too want an America that's more joyful more inclusive more future focused just think what a burden it's been on us to get up day after day after day after day buried in meaningless hot rhetoric when there's so many opportunities out there so many problems that need to be solved I want that and that's the America KLA Harris Rel and she's already made her first presidential decision and she knocked it out of the park when she asked Governor h w to be her nominee for vice president as they used to say uh when I was a young man growing up in Arkansas you do not have to be all broke out with Brilliance you just look at Tim Walls listen to him follow his record as a teacher as a coach in the National Guard as a congressman where he was the only Democrat save one elected in that District in more than a hundred years and he stayed a long time and then he became a great governor and all accounts he was a crackshot who had the courage among his rural constituents to say we do not need these assault weapons available the people who can kill our kids in school so armed with her first decision comma Harris confronts an interesting dilemma we're going to walk out of here feeling pretty good I think we've got energy we are happy we feel like a loads off our shoulders and we know we're just being asked to fight the same fight that the forces of progress have had to fight for 250 years in the face of stiff and often violent opposition we have to find a way to go forward together where we the people make our Union more perfect so that's a good thing how could we possibly lose KLA Harris has fought for kids her whole life that were left out and left behind she's taken on gangs trafficking across the border she's fought to protect the rights of home owners she's been our leader in the fight for Reproductive freedoms and we know a majority of the American people are with us on that and she's gained an invaluable amount of experience as vice president advancing our values and interests around the world she's already said she's going to work really hard to make sure that no American working full-time lives in poverty or has to worry about their children living in poverty he say that we got to make home ownership an achievable dream for everyone not just a privilege she said that it and this meant a lot to me that she would protect everybody's right to vote whether or not they voted for her they were a Citizens and they deserved the right to vote the other day her opponent implied that it's his feet it voted people voted one more time they they'd be able to rig it from now on and they wouldn't have to vote again you think they're kidding but I know a lot of these folks and most of them are really good people but some of them think that they are bound to dominate America politically economically and socially and they have to use politics to do it and they should rig the system I don't believe that and so here's what I want to tell you we've seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn't happen when people got distracted by phony issues or overc competent this is a brutal tough business I want you to be happy one of the reasons that president to be Harris is doing so well is it we're all so happy but you should never underestimate your adversary and these people are really good at distracting us at triggering doubt at triggering buyers remorse as the Obama said so eloquently last night they are human you know they're bound to make a mistake now and then we got to be tough and so as somebody who spends a lot of time in small small towns and rural areas in New York and Arkansas and other places I I [Music] want I urge you to talk to all your neighbors I urge you to meet people where they are I urge you not to demean them but not to pretend you don't disagree with them if you do treat them with respect just the way you'd like them to treat you ask for their help and then follow our leader camela and asked them how can I help you we Democrats right now have a lot of hay in the barn we've got massive achievements massive advances but there's still a lot of slips between the day and election day that we have to navigate and so I want to say this from the bottom of my heart I have no idea how many more of these I'll be able to come to I started in 76 and I've been to everyone since but no say 72 Lord I'm getting old but here's what I want you to know if you vote for this team if you can get them elected and let them bring in this breath of fresh air you will be proud of it for the rest of your life your children will be proud of it your grandchildren will be proud of it take it from a man who once had the honor to be called in this convention the man from hope we need we need camela Harris the president of joy to lead us so I'll be doing my part you do yours I'll see you when we're making a real Joyful Nose noise when the votes are counted God bless you and God bless America hello California hello Maryland hello Democrats on January 20th 2021 with the inauguration of Joe Biden and kamla Harris we established one of the most successful presidencies of modern times and we P quickly proved that Democrats deliver millions of jobs stronger infrastructure and Rural Broadband a CH a Biden child tax credit rescuing human pensions honoring our veterans bold climate action lowering the cost of prescription drugs all thanks to President Biden's patriotic vision of a fair America doing so with liberty and justice for all thank you Joe and I know that vice president Harris is ready to take us to new heights I've known kamla Harris for decades personally I know her a person of deep Faith which is reflected in her community care and service officially she is a leader of strength and wisdom and eloquence on policy most recently demonstrated fighting for women's right to choose politically she is astute and strategic in winning difficult elections quickly securing the nomination with dignity and Grace and choosing Tim wals as our vice president I had the honor of serving with Tim for 12 years in the Congress he United Democrats Republicans and independents to turn a red District blue he showed courage when he came to Congress in voting for the Affordable Care Act meeting the needs of his constituents despite Republicans lies and misrepresentation when he went home won the election he returned to Congress he fought for Americans Heroes as the Democratic leader of the Veterans Affairs committee thank you Tim January 6th was a perilous moment for our democracy never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the Bedrock of our democracy so gleefully embraced political violence so willfully betrayed his oath of office let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6th he did but let us not forget who saved democracy that day we did and thank God we had a democratic House of Representatives then we returned to the capital that very same night we insisted on certifying the election results on the floors of the house and the Senate and we demonstrated to America and to the world that American democracy prevailed the parable of January 6 reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care and we must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections who respect the peaceful transfer of power the choice couldn't be clear those leaders are vice president Harris and Governor walls when the sun rose on January 7th as our national anthem declares we gave proof through the night that our flag was still there now in this election we are called upon to do the same to stand together to reject autocracy to choose democracy and and we will do so by electing a democratic house with hakeim Jeff as Speaker of the House electing a Democratic Senate electing Tim Walls as Vice President of the United States and electing comma Harris as the President of the United States onward to Victory who says you can't go home again after watching the Obamas last night that was some Epic firor wasn't it some epic fire we're now so fired up we can't wait to leave here and do something and what we're going to do is elect KLA Harris as the next president of the United States I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight's theme about what matters most to me to you and all of us Americans Freedom there are people who want you to see our country as a nation of us against them people who want to scare you who want to rule you people who'd have you believe that books are dangerous and assault rifles are safe that there's a right way to worship and a wrong way to love people who seek first to divide and then to conquer but here's the thing when we stand together it is impossible to conquer us in the words of an extraordinary American the late Congressman John Lewis he said no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on we are all in the same boat now Congressman Lewis knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are but he also knew that the work is not done the work will never be done because Freedom isn't free America is an ongoing project it requires commitment it requires being open to the hard work and the heart work of democracy and every now and then it requires standing up to Life's bull Poli I know this I've lived in Mississippi in Tennessee in Wisconsin Maryland Indiana Florida Hawaii Colorado California and California and sweet Home Chicago Illinois I have actually traveled this country from the Redwood Forest love those redwoods to The Gulfstream Waters I've seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division I've not only seen it at times I've been on the receiving end of it but more often than not what I've witnessed and experienced are human beings both conservative and liberal who may not agree with each other but who'd still help you in a heartbeat if you were in trouble these are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American they are the best of America and despite what some would have you think we are not so different from our neighbors when a house is on fire we don't ask about the homeowner's race or religion we don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted no we just try to do the best we can to save them and if the place place happens to belong to a childless cat lady well we try to get that cat out too cuz we are a country of people who work hard for the money we wish our brothers and sisters well and we pray for peace we know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually matters but we are Beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and Foolery these are complicated times people and they require adult conversation and I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy and it is the best of America America now over the last couple of nights we have all seen brave people walk onto the stage and share their most private pain Amanda and Josh Caitlyn Hadley they told us their stories of rape and incest and near-death experiences from having the state deny them the abortion that their doctor explained was medic necessary and they've told us these things for one reason and that is to keep what happened to them from happening to anybody else because if you do not have autonomy over this over this if you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported there is no American Dream the women and men who are battling to keep us from going back to a time of desperation and shame and Stone Cold fear they are the New Freedom Fighters and make no mistake they are the best of America I want to talk now about somebody who's not with us to tonight Tessy Pros Williams was born in New Orleans not long after the Supreme Court rule that segregated Public Schools were unconstitutional that was in 1954 same year I was born but I didn't have to head to first grade at the all-white McDon 19 school with a US Marshall by my side like Tessy did and when I got to school the building wasn't empty like it was for Tessy you see rather than allowing Madonna to be integrated parents pull their kids out of the school leaving only Tessy and two other little black girls Gail etan and Leona Tate to sit in a classroom with the windows papered over to block snipers from attacking their six-year-old bodies Tessy passed away 6 weeks ago and I tell this story to honor her tonight because she she like Ruby Bridges and her friends Leona and Gail the New Orleans 4 they were called they broke barriers and they paid dearly for it but it was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessy privos Williams that paved the way for another young girl who n years later became part of the second class to integrate the public schools in Berkeley California and it seems to me that at school and at home somebody did a beautiful job of showing this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom they showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is but what can be they instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the Glorious fighting Spirit necessary to pursue that passion and soon and very soon soon and very soon we're going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father two idealistic energetic immigrants immigrants how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United States that is the best of America you know you know let me tell you this this election is isn't about us and them it's about you and me and what we want our futures to look like there are choices to be made when we cast our ballot now there's a certain candidate says if we just go to the polls this one time that we'll never have to do it again well you know what you're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again because I'm an American and that's what Americans do voting is the best of America and I have always since I was eligible to vote I've always voted my values and that is what is needed in this election now more than ever so I'm calling on all you Independence and all you undecideds you know this is true you know I'm telling you the truth that values and character matter most of all in leadership and in life and more than anything you know this is true that decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024 and and just plain Common Sense Common Sense tells you that kamla Harris and Tim walz can give us decency and respect there they're the ones to give it to us so we are Americans we are Americans let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual because because that's the best of America and let us choose optimism over cynicism because that's the best of America and let us choose inclusion over retribution let us choose Common Sense over nonsense because that's the best of America and let us choose the sweet promise of Tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday we won't go back we won't be set back pushed back bullied back back kick back we're not going back not going back we not going back so let us choose let us choose truth let us choose honor and let us choose Joy because that's the best of America but more than anything else let us choose Freedom why because that's the best of America we're all let's all choose comma haris thank you Chicago thank you thank you wow well thank you thank you first of all to vice president Harris thanks for putting your trust in me and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign and a thank you to President Joe Biden for four years of strong historic leadership it's it's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States we're all we're all here tonight for one beautiful simple reason we love this country so thank you to all of you here in Chicago and all of you watching at home tonight thank you for your passion thank you for your determination and most of all thank you for bringing the joy to this fight now I grew up in but Nebraska a town of 400 people I had 24 kids in my high school class and none of them went to Yale but I'll tell you what growing up in a small town like that you learn how to take care of each other that that family down the road they may not think like you do they may not pray like you do they may not love like you do but they're your neighbors and you look out for them and they look out for you everybody belongs and everybody has a responsibility to contribute for me it was serving in the Army National Guard I joined up two days after my 17th birthday and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years my dad a Korean Warrior era Army veteran died of lung cancer a couple years later he left behind a mountain of medical debt thank God for Social Security survivor benefits and thank God for the GI bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college and millions of other Americans eventually like the rest of my family I fell in love with teaching three three out of four of us married teachers I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mano West High School go Scarlets we ran we ran a 44 defense we played threw to the whistle on every single play and we even won a state championship never closed the yearbook people but it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress they saw in me what I haded to instill in them a commitment to the common good an understanding that we're all in this together and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors so there I was a 40-some high school teacher with little kids zero political experience and no money running in a deep red District but you know what never underestimate a public school teacher never I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years and I learned an awful lot I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans and I learned how to compromise without compromising my values then I came back to serve as governor and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors lives lives we cut taxes for the middle class we passed Paid Family and Medical Leave we invested in fighting crime and affordable housing we cut the cost of prescription drugs and help people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family and we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfasted lunch every day so while other states were Banning books from their schools we were banishing Hunger from ours we also protected reproductive freedom because in Minnesota we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make and even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves we've got a golden rule mind your own damn business and that includes IVF and fertility treatments this is personal for Gwen and I if you've never experienced the hell that is infertility I guarantee you you know somebody who has and I can remember praying each night for a phone call The Pit in your stomach when the phone had rang and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked it took Gwyn and I years but we had access to fertility treatments and when our daughter was born we named her hope hope Gus and Gwen you are my entire world and I love you I'm letting you in on how we started a family because this is a big part about what this election is about Freedom when when Republicans use the word Freedom they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctors office corporations free to pollute your air and water and banks free to take advantage of customers but when we Democrats talk about Freedom we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love freedom to make your own healthc care decisions and yeah your kids freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall look I know guns I'm a veteran I'm a Hunter and I was a better shot than most republicans in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it but I'm also a dad I believe in the Second Amendment but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe that's what this is all about the responsibility we have to our kids to each other and to the Future that we're building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of Life they want but not everyone has that same sense of responsibility some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor take Donald Trump and JD Vance their project 2025 will make things much much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives they spent a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this but look I coach typ School football long enough to know and trust me on this when somebody takes the time to draw up a Playbook they're going to use it and and we know if these guys get back in the White House they'll start jacking up the costs on the middle class they'll repeal the Affordable Care Act they'll gut Social Security and Medicare and they will ban abortion across this country with or without [Applause] Congress here's the thing it's an agenda nobody asked for it's a agenda that serves nobody except the richest and the most extreme amongst us and it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need is it weird absolutely absolutely but it's also wrong and it's dangerous if it's not just me saying so it's Trump's own people they were with him for four years they're warning us that the next four years will be much much worse you know when I was teaching every year we'd elect a student body president and you know what those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others leaders do the work so I don't know about you I'm ready to turn the page on these guys so go ahead say it with me we're not going back not not we've got something better to offer the American people it starts with our candidate kamla Harris from her first first day as a prosecutor as a district attorney as an attorney general as a United States Senator and then our vice president she's fought on the side of the American people she's taken on the Predators and frauders she's taken down the transnational gangs and she stood up to powerful corporate interest she has never hesitated to reach across that aisle if it meant improving your lives and she's always done it with energy with passion and with joy folks we've got a chance to make kamla Harris the next president of the United States but I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as president before we ask them for their votes so here this is the part clip and save it and send it to your undecided relative reles so they know if you're middle class family or a family trying to get into the middle class KLA Harris is going to cut your taxes if you're getting squeezed by prescription drug prices KLA Harris is going to take on big Pharma if you're hoping to buy a home KLA Harris is going to help make it more affordable and no matter who you are KLA Harris is going to stay stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead because that's what we want for ourselves and it's what we want for our neighbors you know you might not know it but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this but I have given a lot of pep talks so let me let me finish with this team it's the fourth quarter we're down a field goal but we're on offense and we've got the ball we're driving down the field and boy do we have the right team kamla Harris is top kamla Harris is experienced and kamla Harris is ready our job our job our job our job for everyone watching is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling one inch at a time one yard at a time one phone call at a time one door knock at a time $5 donation at a time look we got 76 days that's nothing there'll be time to sleep when you're dead we're going to leave it on the field That's How we'll keep moving forward that's how we'll Turn the page on Donald Trump That's How we'll build a country where workers Come First Health Care and housing are human rights and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom that's how we make America a place where no child is left hungry where no Community is Left Behind where nobody gets told they don't belong that's how we're going to fight and as the next president of the United States always says when we fight when we fight when we fight thank you God bless [Applause] thank you thank you thank you everybody thank you thank you thank you thank you all right all right all right that's enough thank you thank you Chicago it's good to be home it is good to be home and I I I don't know about you but I'm feeling fired up I I I am feeling ready to go even if even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama [Applause] I am feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you the next president of the United States of America kamla Harris it's been 16 years since I had the honor of accepting this party's nomination president and I know that's hard to believe because I have not aged a bit but it's true and and looking back I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best and that was asking in Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president now other other than some common Irish blood Joe and I come from different backgrounds but we became brothers and as we work together for eight sometimes pretty tough years what I came to admire most about Joe wasn't just his smarts his experience it was his empathy and his decency and his hard earned resilience his unshakable belief that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot and over the last four years is those are the values America has needed most at a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right at a time when our economy was reeling we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world's strongest recovery 15 million jobs higher wages lower health healthare cost at a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality we needed a leader who was steady and brought people together and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country history will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger and I am proud to call him my president but I am even prouder to call him my friend [Applause] now the torch has been passed now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in and make no mistake it will be a fight for all the incredible energy we've been been able to generate over the last few weeks for all the rallies and the memes this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country a country where too many Americans are still struggling where a lot of Americans don't believe government can help and As We Gather here tonight the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question who will fight for me who's thinking about my future about my children's future about our future together one thing is for certain Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that question here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he wrote down his golden escalator N9 years ago it has been a constant stream of of gripes and grievances that that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to K there's the childish nicknames the crazy conspiracy theories this weird obsession with crowd sizes it I it just goes on and on and on the other day I heard someone compared Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day now from a neighbor that's exhausting from a president it's just dangerous the the the truth is Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to his ends he wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his rich friends he killed a bipartisan immigration deal written in part by one of the most conservative republicans in Congress that would have helped secure our Southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign he doesn't do not vot vot he doesn't seem to care if more women lose their reproductive Freedom since it won't affect his life and most of all Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and Them between The Real Americans who of course support him and The Outsiders who don't and he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place it it is one of the oldest tricks in politics from a guy whose act has let's face it gotten pretty stale we do not need four more years of Bluster and bumbling and Chaos we have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse America's ready for a new chapter America is ready for a better story we are ready for a president kamla Harris and KLA Harris is ready for the job this is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion as you heard from Michelle Kamala was not born into privilege she had to work for what she's got and she actually cares about what other people are going through she's not the neighbor running the leaf blower she's the neighbor rushing over to help when you need a hand as a prosecutor KLA stood up for children who had been victims of sexual abuse as an attorney general of of the most populous state in the country she fought big Banks and for-profit colleges securing billions of dollars for the people they had scammed after the Home Mortgage crisis she pushed me and my Administration hard to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement didn't matter that I was a Democrat didn't matter that she had knocked on doors for my campaign in Iowa she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it as vice president she helped take on the drug companies to cap the cost of insulin lower the cost of healthcare get families with kids a tax cut and she is running for president with real plans to lower costs even more and protect Medicare and Medicaid and sign a law to guarantee every woman's right to make her own health care decisions in other words KLA Harris won't be focused on her problems she'll be focused on yours as president she won't just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee she'll work on behalf of every American that's who kamla is and in the white house she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Waltz let let me tell you something let me let me tell you something I love this guy Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics born in a small town served his country taught kids coached football took care of his neighbors he knows who he is and he knows what's important you can tell those those flannel shirts he wears don't come from some political consultant they come from his closet and they have been through some stuff they have been through some stuff that's right together kamla and Tim have kept Faith with America's Central story a story that says we are all created equal all of us endowed with certain inable rights that everyone deserves a chance that even when we don't agree with each other we can find a way to live with each other that's kamla's Vision that's Tim's Vision that's the Democratic party's vision and our job over the next 11 weeks weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that Vision now it won't be easy the other side knows it's easier to play on people's fears and cynicism always has been they will tell you that government is inherently corrupt that that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers and since the game is rigged it's okay to take what you want and just look after your own that's the easy path we have a different task our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver and and in doing that we can't just point to what we've already accomplished we can't just rely on the ideas of the past we need to chart a new way forward that's right to meet the challenges of today and kamla understands this she knows for example that if we want to make it easier for more young people to buy a home we need to build more units and clear away some of the outdated laws and regulations that made it harder to build homes for working people in this country that is a priority and she's put out a bold new plan to do just that on healthare care we should all be proud of the enormous progress that we've made through the Affordable Care Act providing millions of people access to Affordable coverage protecting Millions more from unscrupulous Insurance practices and I noticed by the way that since it's become popular they don't call it Obamacare no more but kamla knows we can't stop there which is why she'll keep working to limit out of pocket costs KLA knows that if we want to help people get ahead we need to put a college degree Within Reach of more Americans but but she also knows College shouldn't be the only ticket to the middle class we need to follow the lead of Governors like Tim Walls who said if you've got the skills and the drive you shouldn't need a degree to work for state government and in this new economy we need a president who actually cares about the millions of people all across this country who wake up every single day to do the essential often thankless work to care for our sick to to clean our streets to deliver our packages we need a president who will stand up for their right to bargain for better wages and working conditions and kamla will be that President yes she can yes she can a Harris Waltz Administration can help us move past some of the tired old debates that keep stifling progress because at their core KL and Tim understand that when everybody gets a fair shot we are all better off they understand that when every child gets a good education the whole economy gets stronger when women are paid the same as men for doing the same job All Families benefit they understand that we can secure our borders without tearing kids away from their parents just like we can keep our streets safe while also building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and eliminating bias that will make it better for everybody Donald Trump and his well-healed donors they don't see the world that way for them one group's gains is necessarily another group's loss for them Freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please whether it's fir workers trying to organize a union or put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes like everybody else has to do well we have a broader idea of freedom we believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you're willing to work hard the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they'll come home we believe that true Freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life how we worship what our family looks like how many kids we have who we marry and we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours that's okay that's the America Comm Harrison Tim Walls believe in an America Where We the People includes everyone because that's the only way this American experiment works and despite what our politics might suggest I think most Americans understand that democracy isn't just a bunch of abstract principles and and and dusty laws in in some book somewhere it's the values we live by it's the way we treat each other including those who don't look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do that that sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message our politics have become so polarized these days that all of us across the political Spectrum seem so quick to assume the worst in others unless they agree with us on every single issue we start thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out yell the other side and after a while regular folks just tune out or they don't bother to vote now that approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division but it won't work for us to make progress on the things we care about the things that really affect people's lives we we need to remember that we've all got our blind spots and contradictions and and prejudices and that if we want to win over those who aren't yet ready to support our candidates we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process a after all if a parent or grandparent occasionally say something that makes us cringe we we don't automatically assume they're bad people we recognize that the world is moving fast that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up our fellow citizens deserve the same Grace we hope they'll extend to us that's how we can build a true Democratic majority that's right one that can get things done and by the way that does not just matter to the people in this country the rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull this off no Nation no Society has ever tried to build a democracy as big and as diverse as ours before one that includes people that over decades have come from every corner of the globe one where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood but by a common Creed and that's why when we uphold our values the world's a little brighter when we don't the world's a little dimmer and dictators and autocrats feel emboldened and over time we become less safe we shouldn't be the world's policemen and we can't eradicate every cruelty and Injustice in the world but America can be and must be a Force for good discouraging conflict fighting disease promoting human rights protecting the planet from climate change defending Freedom brokering peace that's what comma Harris believes and so do most Americans now [Applause] I I I I I I I know these ideas can feel pretty naive right now we live in a time of such confusion and ranker with a culture that puts a premium on things that don't last money Fame status likes we chase the approval of strangers on our phones we build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then we wonder why we feel so alone we don't trust each other as much because we don't take the time to know each other and in that space between us politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other but here's the good news Chicago all across America in big cities and small towns away from all the noise the ties that bind us together are still there we still coach little league and look out for our elderly Neighbors we still feed the hungry in churches and mosques and synagogues and temples we share the same Pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold because because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that's bitter and divided we want something better we want to be better and the joy and the excitement that we're seeing around this campaign tells us we're not alone you know I've spent a lot of time thinking about this these past few months because as Michelle mentioned uh this summer we lost her mom Miss Maran Robinson and I don't know that anybody has ever loved their mother-in-law any more than I love mine now mostly it's because she was funny and wise and the least pretentious person I knew that and she always defended me with Michelle when I messed up I'd hide behind her but I also think one of the reasons Mary and I became so close was she reminded me of my grandmother the woman who helped raise me as a child and on the surface the two of them did not have a lot in common one was a black woman from right here Southside of Chicago right down the way went to Anglewood High School the other was a little old white lady born in a tiny town called Peru Kansas I know there aren't that many people from [Applause] Peru and yet they shared a basic outlook on life they were strong smart resourceful women full of Common Sense who regardless of the barriers they encountered and women growing up in the 40s and 50s and six they they encountered barriers they still went about their business without fuss or complaint and provided an unshakable Foundation of love for their children and their grandchildren in that sense they both represented an entire generation of working people who through war and depression discrimination and limited opportunity helped build this country a lot of them toiled every day at jobs that were often too small for them and didn't pay a lot they willingly went without just to keep a roof over their fam's heads just to give their children something better but they knew what was true they knew What mattered things like honesty and integrity kindness and hard work they weren't they weren't impressed with brags or bullies they they they didn't think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong they didn't spend a lot of time obsessing about what they didn't have instead they appreciated what they did they they they they found pleasure in simple things a car game with friends a good meal and laughter around the kitchen table helping others and most of all seeing their children do things and go places that they would have never imagined for themselves whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between we have all had people like that in our lives people like comma parents who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America people like Tim's parents who taught him about the importance of service good hardworking people who weren't famous or powerful but who managed in countless ways to lead this country just a little bit better than they found it as much as any policy or program I believe that's what what we yearn for a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other a restoration of what Lincoln called on the eve of Civil War are bonds of affection an America that Taps what he called the better angels of our nature that is what this election is about and I believe that's why if we each do our part over the next 77 days if we knock on doors if we make phone calls if we talk to our friends if we listen to our neighbors if we work like we've never worked before if we hold firm to our convictions we will elect KLA Harris as the next president of the United States and Tim WS as the next Vice President of the United States we will elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful forward-looking America we all believe in and together we too will build a country that is more secure and more just more equal and and more free so let's get to work God bless you and God bless the United States of America okay we got a big night ahead thank you all so much thank you so much okay hey hello Chicago yeah all right something I I something wonderfully magical is in the air isn't it yeah you know we're feeling it here in this Arena but it's spreading all across this country we love a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long you know what I'm talking about it's the contagious power of Hope the anticipation the energy the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day the chance to Vanquish the Demons of fear Division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing The Unfinished promise of this great nation the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for America hope is making a comeback yeah but to be honest I am realizing that until recently I have mourned the dimming of that hope and maybe you've experienced the same feelings is that deep pit in my stomach a palpable sense of dread about the future and for me that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief the last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice folks I still feel her loss so profoundly I wasn't even sure if I'd Be steady enough to stand before you tonight but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense I of Duty that I feel to honor her memory and and to and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future you see my mom in her steady quiet way lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life she believed that all children all all people have value that anyone can succeed have given the opportunity she and my father didn't aspire to be wealthy in fact they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed they understood that it wasn't enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning so my mother volunteered at the local school she she always looked out for the other Kids on the Block she was glad to do the thankless unglamorous work that for Generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation the belief that if you do unto others if you love thy neighbor if you work and scrape and sacrifice it will pay off if not for you then maybe for your children or your grandchildren you see those values have been passed on through Family Farms and Factory towns through Treeline streets and crowded tenements through prayer groups and National Guard units and social studies classrooms those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath kamla Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart they shared the same belief in the promise of this country that's why her mother moved here from India at 19 is why she taught kamla about Justice about the obligation to lift others up about our responsibility to give more than we take she'd often tell her daughter don't sit around and complain about things do something so with that voice in her head kamla went out and she worked hard in school graduating from an HBCU earning her law degree at a state school and then she went on to work for the people fighting to hold law Breakers accountable strengthening the rule of law fighting to get folks better wages cheaper prescription DRS a good education decent Health Care Child Care Elder Care from a middle class household kamla worked her way up to become Vice President of the United States of America my girl kamla Harris is more than ready for this moment she is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency and she is one of the most dignified a tribute to her mother to my mother and to your mother mother too the embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country her story is your story it's my story it's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life look kamla knows like we do that regardless of where you come from what you look like who you love how you worship or what's in your bank account we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American no one Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation not by spewing anger and bitterness but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others she understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward we will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth if if we bankrupt a business if we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis we don't get a second third or fourth chance if things don't go our way we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead no we don't get to change the rules so we always wi if we see a mountain in front of us we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top no we put our heads down we get to work in America we do something and throughout her entire life that's what we've seen from kamla Harris the steel of her spine the steadiness of her upbringing the honesty of her example and yes the joy of her laughter and her light it couldn't be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race only kamla Harris truly understands the Unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great now unfortunately we know what comes next we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth my husband and I sadly know a little something about this for years Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardwork and highly educated successful people who happen to be black wait I I I want to know I want to know who's going to tell him who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs look it's his same old con his same old con doubling down on ugly misogynistic racist lives as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better look because cutting our health care taking away our freedom to control our bodies the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives mothers and daughters shutting down the Department of Education Banning our books none of that will prepare our kids for the future demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love look that doesn't make anybody's life better instead instead it only makes us small and let me tell you this going small is never the answer going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids going small is petty it's unhealthy and quite frankly it's unpresidential so why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our house highest office why would we normalize that type of backward leadership doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics it only serves to further discourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America our parents taught us better than that and we deserve so much better than that that's why we must do everything everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people there is no other choice than kamla Harris and Tim Walls no other choice but as we Embrace this renewed sense of hope let us not forget the despair we have felt let us not forget what we are up against yes kamla and Tim are doing great now we're loving it they're packing Arenas across the country folks are energized we are feeling good but remember there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome who are ready to question and criticize every move kamla makes who are eager to spread those lies who don't want to vote for a woman who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over insuring that everyone has enough so no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day this is going to be an uphill battle so folks we cannot be our own worst enemies no see because the minute something goes wrong the minute a lie takes hold folks we cannot start ringing our hands we cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right and we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like kamla instead of doing everything we can to get someone like KLA elected KLA and Tim they have lived amazing lives and I I am confident that they will lead with compassion inclusion and Grace but they are still only human they are not perfect and like all of us they will make mistakes but luckily y'all this is not just on them nah uh-uh this is up to us all of us to be the solution that we seek it's up to all of us to be the anecdote to the darkness and division look I don't care how you identify politically whether you're Democrat Republican independent or none of the above this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right to stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and Humanity for basic respect dignity and empathy for the values at the very Foundation of this democracy it's up to us to remember what kamla's mother told her don't just sit around and complain do something so if they lie about her and they will we've got to do something if we see a bad poll and we will we got to put down that phone and do something if we start feeling tired if we start feeling that dread creeping back in we got to pick ourselves up throw water on our face and what we only have 2 and A2 months y'all to get this done only 11 weeks to make sure every single person we know is registered and has a voting plan so we cannot afford for anyone anyone anyone America to sit on their hands and wait to be called don't complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask you for your support there is simply no time for that kind of foolishness you know what you need to do so consider this to be your official ask Michelle Obama is asking you no I'm telling y'all to do something [Applause] because you all this election is going to be close in some states just a handful listen to me a handful of votes in every Precinct could decide the the winner so we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us our fate is in our hands in 77 days we have the power to turn our country away from the fear Division and smallness of the past we have the power to marry our hope with our action we have the power to pay forward the love sweat and sacrifice of our mothers and fathers and all those who came before us we did it before y'all and we sure can do it again let us work like our lives depend on it and let us keep moving our country forward and go higher yes always higher than we've ever gone before as we the next president and vice president of the United States KLA Harris and Tim Walls thank you all God bless lot of energy in this room just like there is across the country something something is happening in America you can feel it something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time first though let's salute President Biden [Applause] [Applause] he he has been democracy's champion at home and abroad he brought dignity decency and confidence back to the White House and he showed what it means to be a true patriot thank you Joe Biden for your lifetime of service and Leadership and now [Applause] and now we are writing a new chapter in America's story you know my mother Dorothy was born right here in Chicago before women had the right to vote that changed 104 years ago yesterday think about it Tennessee became the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution the state legislature was deadlocked until one lawmaker's mother a widow who read three newspapers a day sent a letter a letter to her son no more delays She Wrote give us the vote and since that day every generation has carried the torch forward in 1972 a Fearless black congresswoman named sherle Chisum she ran for president and her determination let me and millions of others dream bigger not just because of who she was but because of who she fought for working parents poor children the last the least and the lost in 1984 I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro the first woman nominated for vice president if we can do this Jerry said we can do anything and then there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president and and nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams and afterwards we refused to give up on America Millions marched many ran for office we kept our eyes on the future well my friends the future is here I wish my mother and kamla's mother could see us they would say keep going surle and Jerry would say keep [Applause] going women women fighting for Reproductive Health Care are saying keep going families building Better Lives parents stretching to afford Child Care young people struggling to pay their rent they're all asking us to keep going so with faith in each other and joy in our hearts let's send kamla Harris and Tim Walls to the White House you know the story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible but not guaranteed we have to fight for it and never ever give up there is always a choice do we push forward or pull back come together as we the people or split into US versus them that's the choice we face in this election kamla has the character experience and vision to lead us forward I know her heart and her Integrity we both got our start as young lawyers helping children who were abused and neglected that kind of work changes a person those kids stay with you kamla carries with her the hopes of every child she protected every family she helped every Community she served so as president she will always have our backs and she will be a fighter for us she will fight to lower costs for hardworking families open the doors wide for good paying jobs and yes she will restore abortion rights Nationwide as a prosecutor kamla locked up murderers and Drug traffickers she will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety Donald Trump fellow asleep at his own trial and when he woke up he made his own kind of History the first person to run for president with 34 felony [Applause] convictions as vice president as vice president Kamala sat in the Situation Room [Applause] but we also know as vice president Kamala sat in the situation room and stood for America's values I know what it takes and I can tell you as commander and chief kamla won't disrespect our military and our veterans she she reveres our Medal of Honor recipients she won't be sending love letters to dictators [Applause] she will defend democracy and our Constitution and will protect America from enemies foreign and domestic think about it the Constitution says the president's job is to take care that the laws be Faithfully executed those are the words of our Founders take care just look at the candidates Kent cares cares about kids and families cares about America Donald only cares about [Applause] himself on her first day in court kamla said five words that still guide her kamla Harris for the people that is something that Donald Trump will never understand so it is no surprise is it that he is lying about kamla's record he's mocking her name and her laugh sounds familiar but we have him on the run now so so no matter what the polls say we can't let up we can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes we have to fight for the truth we have to fight for kamla as she will fight for us because you know what it still takes a village to raise a family heal a country and win a campaign and America needs every one of us our energy our talents our dreams we're not just electing a president we're uplifting our nation we're opening the promise of America wide enough for everyone together we put a lot of cracks in the highest hardest glass ceiling and tonight tonight so close to breaking through once and for all I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us what do I see I see freedom I see the freedom to make our own decisions about our health Our lives our loves our families the freedom to to work with dignity and prosper to worship as we choose or not to speak our minds freely and honestly I see Freedom From Fear and intimidation from violence and Injustice from chaos and Corruption I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say America you can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you and mean it and you know what on the other side of that glass ceiling is kamla Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States because my friends when a barrier Falls for one of us it falls it falls and clears the way for all of us so for the next 78 days we need to work harder than we ever have we need to beat back the dangers that Trump and his allies pose to the rule of law and our way of life don't get distracted or complacent talk to your friends and Neighbors volunteer be proud champions for the truth and for the country that we all love I want I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment that we were here and that we were with kamla us every step of the way this is our time America this is when we stand up this is when we break through the future is here it's in our grass let's go with it I'm Adam kinzinger and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward Alliance that we have to defend truth defend democracy and decency I was just a kid when I re was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan to his vision of a strong America The Shining City on a Hill I was a republican for 12 years in Congress and I still hold on to the label I never thought I'd be here but listen you never thought you'd see me here did you but I've learned something about the Democratic party and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret the Democrats are as patriotic as us they they love this country just as much as we do and they and they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been I was relieved to discover that because I've learned something about my party too something I couldn't ignore the Republican party is no longer concern conservative it has switched its Allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong he is a small man pretending to be big he's a faithless man pretending to be righteous he's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim he puts on listen he he he puts on quite a show but there is no real strength there as a conservative and a veteran I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable it's in protecting your family it's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy that that is the soul of being a conservative it used to be the soul of being a republican but Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party his fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness sapping our strength softening our spine whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our valow values our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a Siege on the United States capital that day I stood witness to a profound sorrow the desecration of our sacred tradition of peaceful transition of power tarnished by a Man Too fragile too Vain and too weak to accept defeat H how can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election how how can a party claim to stand for Liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine an attack putting tyranny against democracy a challenge to everything our nation claims to be and it Retreats it equivocates it nominates a man who is weird ly obsessed with Putin and his running mate his running mate who said quote I don't care what happens in Ukraine yeah he wants to be vice president yeah how can a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that our forebearers fought for men like my grandfather who served in World War II who believed in a cause bigger than himself and he risked his life for it Behind Enemy Lines to preserve American democracy his generation Found the courage to face down armies listen all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man some some if questioned some have questioned why I've taken the stand I have the answer is really simple ladies and gentlemen we must put country first and tonight and tonight as a republican speaking before you I'm putting our country first because the fact is I do belong here I know KLA Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law the Constitution and democracy and she is dedicated to upold upholding all three in service to our country whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle of decency and of fidelity to this nation listen to my fellow Republicans if you still pledge allegiance to those principles I suspect you belong here too because because democracy knows no party it's a it's a living breathing ideal that defines us as a nation it's the Bedrock that separates us from tyranny and when that Foundation is fractured we must all Stand Together United to strengthen it if you think those principles are worth defending then I urge you make the right choice vote vote for our Bedrock values and vote for kamla Harris God bless you hello fellow Americans I'm Gabby gippers I was born in the great state of Arizona I was born with grit I grew up racing motorcycles looking stalls and exploring the beautiful desert I fell for an astronaut for five years I served in Congress from a swing District everybody called me a rising star then on January 8th 2011 a man tried to assassinate me he shot 19 people he killed six terrible terrible day I almost died but I fought for my life and I survived I learned to walk again one step at a time I learned to talk again one word at a time so many people helped me as I worked hard to recover including a decent man for Delaware who always checked in in he still does thank you Joe Biden thank you for everything Joe is a great president my friend Kamala will be a great president she is tough she has grit kamla can beat the gun lobby she can fight gun trafficking Pamela stood up to Wall Street and the drug company she will protect abortion access she will defend our freedom she save lives join me in voting for kamla Harris thank you wo I'm Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Lancing they call me Governor but in Detroit they call me big Gretch Donald Trump called me that woman from Michigan as an insult being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor like when women across America we just GSD get stuff done at 29 I joined the sandwich generation sandwiched between working and raising my newborn and caring for my mom who was dying from brain cancer it was hard but not extraordinary it's life those nights reminded me who I was fighting for people just trying to make it kamla Harris knows who she's fighting for too she took care of her mom who also battled cancer as president she'll fight to lower the cost of Health Care and elder care for every family she's lived a life like ours she knows us Donald Trump doesn't know you at all you think he understands that when your car breaks down you can't get to work no his first word was probably chauffeur you think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out hell you think he's ever been to a grocery store that's what the chauffeur is for but kamla Harris she gets us she sees us she is us look we've all lived through a a lot of history over the past few years floods and fires an attempted coup a plot and a pandemic it's exhausting we don't know what the next four years will bring but what we do know is this through it all your life won't stop you're going to have to get to work pick up the kids and pay your bills and then one day when you're just trying to get everyone out the door a news alert goes off something happened something hit the fan you'll ask is my family going to be okay and then you'll ask who the hell is in charge what if it's him what what if it's that man from maril Argo I know in a crisis we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan to tell the truth and to bring people together right now before the crisis is when we get to choose why wouldn't we choose the a leader who's tough tested and a total badass I know who I want as our commanderin-chief America let's choose kamla Harris la California good evening everyone good evening good evening oh my goodness good evening everyone good evening good good evening thank you thank you thank you good evening thank you thank you thank thank you thank you thank you everyone thank you thank you you thank you thank you all thank you all okay we got to get to some business we got to get to some business okay thank you all okay thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you please thank you please thank you so very much thank you everyone thank you everyone thank you okay let's get to business let's get to business all right so let me start by thanking my most incredible husband [Music] Doug for being an incredible partner to me an incredible father to co Ella and happy anniversary douge I love you so very much to our President Joe Biden when I think about the path that we have traveled together Joe I am filled with gratitude your record is extraordinary as history will show and your character is inspiring and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both and to coach Tim Walls you are going to be an incredible vice president and to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign your support is humbling so America the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected but I'm no stranger to unlikely Journeys so my mother our mother shamala Harris had one of her own and I miss her every day and especially right now and I know she's looking down smiling I know that so my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be the scientist who would Cure breast cancer when she finished school she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage but as would have it she met my father Donald Harris a student from Jamaica they they fell in love and got married and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and Me growing up we moved a lot I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings ready to go to Illinois to Wisconsin and wherever our parents jobs took us my early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones a home filled with laughter and music artha coold train and miles at the park my mother would say stay close but my father would say as he smiled run comma run Don't Be Afraid don't let anything stop you from my earliest years he taught me to be Fearless but the harmony between my parents did not last when I was in elementary school they split up and it was mostly my mother who raised us before she could finally afford to buy a home she rented a small apartment in the East Bay in the bay in the bay you either live in the Hills or the flat lands we lived in the flats a beautiful workingclass neighborhood of firefighters nurses and construction workers all who tended their lawns with pride my mother she worked long hours and like many working parents leaned on a trusted Circle to help raise us Mrs Shelton who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother Uncle Sherman Aunt Mary Uncle Freddy Auntie Chris none of them family by Blood and all of them family by love family who taught us how to make gumbo how to play chest and sometimes even let us win family Who Loved Us believed in us and told us we could be anything and do anything they instilled in us the values they personified Community faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated with kindness respect and compassion my mother was a brilliant 5 foot tall brown woman with an accent and as the eldest child as the eldest child I saw how the world would sometimes treat her but my mother never lost her cool she was tough courageous a Trailblazer in the fight for Women's Health and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night she taught us to never complain about Injustice but do something about it do something about it that was my mother and she taught us and she always she also taught us and she also taught us and never do anything half asked and that is a direct quote a direct quote I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement my parents had met at a civil rights Gathering and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders including the lawyers like thur Good Marshall and con Constance Baker mle those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America so at a young age I decided I wanted to do that work I wanted to be a lawyer and when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life you see when I was in high school I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda she was sad at school and there were times she didn't want to go home so one day I asked if everything was all right and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather and I immediately told her she had to come stay with us and she did this is one of the reason reasons I became a prosecutor to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety to dignity and to Justice as a prosecutor when I had a case I charged it not in the name of the victim but in the name of the people people for a simple reason in our system of justice a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us and I would often explain this to console survivors of crime to remind them no one should be made to fight alone we are all in this together and every day in the courtroom I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words kamla Harris for the [Music] people and to be clear and to be clear my entire career I've only had one client the people and so on behalf of the people on behalf of every American regardless of party race gender or the language your grandmother speaks on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely Journey on behalf of of Americans like the people I grew up with people who work hard chase their dreams and look out for one another on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America and with this election and and with this election our nation our nation with this election has a precious fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness cynicism and divisive battles of the past a chance to chart a new way forward not not as members of any one party or faction but As Americans and let me say I know there are people of various political views watching tonight and I want you to know I promise to be a president for all Americans you can always trust me to put country above party and self to hold sacred America's fundamental principles from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power I will be a President Who unites us around our highest aspirations a president who leads and listens who is realistic practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people from the courthouse to the White House that has been my life's work as a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland California I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them as attorne general of California I took on the big Banks delivered $20 billion from middleclass families who faced foreclosure and helped pass a homeowner Bill of Rights one of the first of its kind in the nation I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges for workers who are being cheated out of their wages the wages they were due for seniors facing elder abuse I fought against the cartels who traffick in guns and drugs and human beings who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities and I will tell you these fights were not easy and neither were the elections that put me in those offices we were underestimated at practically every turn but we never gave up because the future is always worth fighting for and that's the fight we are in right now a fight for America's future fellow Americans this election is not only the most important of Our Lives it is one of the most important in the life of our nation in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man but the consequences but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious consider consider not only the chaos and Calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election Donald Trump tried to throw away your vote when he failed he sent an armed mob to the United States capital where they assaulted Law Enforcement Officers when politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help he did the opposite he fan the flames and now for an entirely different set of crimes he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse and consider consider what he intends to do if we give him power again consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremist who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the capital his explicit intent to jail journalists political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy his explicit intent to deploy our active duty military against our own citizens consider consider the power he will have especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from Criminal prosecution just imagine Donald Trump with no guard rails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States not to improve your life not to strengthen our national security but to serve the only client he has ever had himself and we know and we know what a second Trump term would look like it's all laid out in Project 2025 written by his closest advisors and its sum total is to pull our country back to the past but America we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back we are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare we are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions we are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our Public Schools we are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and child care for our children America we are not going back and we are charting and we are charting a new way forward forward to a future with a strong and growing middle class because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to americ America's success and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency and I'll tell you this is personal for me the middle class is where I come from my mother kept a strict budget we lived within our means yet we wanted for little and she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them because as she taught us opportunity is not available to everyone that's why we will create what I call an opportunity economy an opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed whether you live in a rural area small town or big city and as president I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like Health Care and housing and groceries we will provide access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs and Founders and we will end America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare now compare that to Donald Trump because I think everyone here knows he doesn't actually fight for the middle class not he doesn't actually fight for the middle class instead he fights for himself and his billionaire friends and he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt and all the while he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax call it a trump tax that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year well instead of a trump tax hike we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans friends I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to to make their own decisions about their own lives especially on matters of heart and home but tonight in America too many women are not able to make those decisions and let's be clear about how we got here Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom and now he brags about it in his words quote I did it and I'm proud to have done it end quote well I'll tell you over the past two years I've traveled across our country and women have told me their stories husbands and fathers have shared theirs stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot developing sepsis losing the ability to ever again have children all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients couples just trying to grow their family cut off in the middle of IVF treatments children who have survived sexual assault potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term this is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump and understand he is not done as a part of his agenda he and his allies would limit access to birth control ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress and get this get this he plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions simply put they are out of their minds and one must ask one must ask why exactly is it that they don't trust women well we trust women we trust women and when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive Freedom as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law in this election many other fundamental freedoms are at stake the freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools communities and places of worship the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride the freedom to breathe clean air air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis and the freedom that unlocks all the others the freedom to vote with this election we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the freedom to vote Act and let me be clear and let me be clear after decades in law enforcement I know the importance of Safety and Security especially at our border last year Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades the border patrol endorsed it but Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal well I refuse to play politics with our security and here is my pledge to you as president I will bring back the bipartison border of security bill that he killed and I will sign it into law I know I know we can live up to our proud Heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system we can create an earned Pathway to citizenship and secure our border and America we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and values abroad as vice president I have confronted threats to our security negotiated with foreign leaders strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas as commanderin-chief I will ensure America always has the strongest most lead lethal fighting force in the world and I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families and I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence that America not China wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen not abdicate our Global Leadership Trump on the other hand threatened to abandon NATO he encouraged Putin to invade our allies said Russia could quote do whatever the hell they want 5 days before Russia attacked Ukraine I met with president zansky to warn him about Russia's plan to invade I helped mobilize a Global Response over 50 countries to defend against Putin's aggression and as president I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies with respect to the war in Gaza President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done and let me be clear and let me be clear I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas called on October 7 including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival at the same time what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating so many innocent lives lost desperate hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again the scale of suffering is heartbreaking President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure the hostages are released the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity security freedom and self-determination and know this I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and iran-backed terrorists I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un who are rooting for Trump who are rooting for Trump because you know they know they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors they know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself and as president I will never waver in defense of America's security and ideals because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs so fellow Americans fellow Americans I I love our country with all my heart Everywhere I Go Everywhere I Go in everyone I meet I see a nation that is ready to move forward ready for the next step in The Incredible Journey that is America I see an America where we hold fast to The Fearless belief that built our nation and inspired the world that here in this country anything is possible that nothing is Out Of Reach an America where we care for one another look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us that none of us none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed and that in unity there is strength you know our opponents in this race are out there every day denigrating America talking about how terrible every anything is well my mother had another lesson she used to teach never let anyone tell you who you are you show them who you are America let us show each other and the world Who We Are and what we stand for Freedom opportunity compassion dignity fairness and Endless Possibilities We Are The Heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world and on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty we must be worthy of this moment it is now our turn to do what Generations before us have done Guided by optimism and Faith to fight for this country we love to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth the privilege and pride of being an American so let's get out there let's fight for it let's get out there let's vote for it and together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary Story Ever Told thank you God bless you and may God bless the United States of America thank got this you know what I love best about about KLA Harris kamla Harris can't be bought and she can't be bossed around now I first met kamla in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash the banks had flat out broken laws cheated people and stolen homes millions of Americans had lost their jobs their savings their home homes now I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go cfv yeah kamla was protecting families as California's attorney general you bet and Donald was scamming students at Trump University and trying to make money off people losing their homes KLA Harris stepped up she enforced the law she fought the giant Banks and she delivered billions of dollars of help for families and that is the difference between a criminal and a prosecutor you know what else I love about kamla she gets it we need to make life more affordable for working people yeah Donald Trump the Felon has no plans to lower cost for families he doesn't know how and basically he doesn't really care when did he ever fill up a gas tank or worry about a grocery bill the only bills he worries about are from his criminal defense lawyers but kamla she cares deep down and she will take on the giant corporations that are squeezing American families in fact it's something she's done before during the California wildfires she went after the price gougers during the pandemic we worked together in the Senate to stop price gouging and as president she will lower costs for your family she'll take on the Wall Street firms that buy up millions of houses and apartments and then jack up the rent she'll take on drug companies that charge an arm and a leg for prescriptions she'll take on corporate monopolies that rip off consumers and billionaires who don't pay taxes and she'll take on right-wing extremists who think they should decide who has access to abortion or IVF Kamala will protect abortion right Nationwide yeah and there it is groceries gas housing Health Care taxes abortion trust Donald Trump and JD fans to look out for your family shoot I wouldn't let those guys I wouldn't trust them to move my couch we need kamla Harris this election is about your family and your future I've seen kamla Harris fight I've seen her win and when it comes to our families and our futures kamla Harris is someone we can trust so here it is with joy in our hearts let's elect kamla Harris the next president of the United States hello Democrats [Applause] so President Obama had to follow Michelle I had to follow Gabby and pink Gabby amazes me every single day she was able to walk out and address you tonight because she's a fighter and thanks to a team of doctors nurses and especially her speech therapist we all need a team I've flown into space four times I've flown into combat nearly 40 times not once did I do that by myself it took a team to accomplish a mission it always does I flew in the Navy during the first Gulf War America rallied our allies to kick out a tyrant who invaded a neighbor today Vladimir Putin is testing whether we're still that strong Iran North Korea and especially China watch closely what's Trump's answer he invited Russia to do and these are his words not mine whatever the hell they want vice president Harris has always championed America's support for NATO for [Music] Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people on the Senate intelligence committee she investigated Russian interference and our election she defends free and fair elections everywhere you already know how Trump feels about those Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings he was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself [Applause] Trump thinks that Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice are suckers and losers if we fall for that again and make him the commander-in-chief the only suckers would be us kamla Harris knows that standing with their allies means standing up for Americans she'll keep modernizing our military to support our troops and to support our veterans like our next vice president Tim Walls the world laughs at Trump literally but folks it is not funny when he was president that meant the world was laughing at us the threats we Face are too serious the sacrifices our service members make are too sacred the alliances we've spent decades building are too critical that's what's at stake now and the choice the choice isn't even close but in Arizona and Nationwide this election will be we'll win in the same way we launch rockets into space and out land fighter jets on an aircraft carrier as one team on one Mission state by state voter by voter coming together no country no country is better than ours at solving big problems so on November 5th let's prove that America is still the leader the world needs today by the electing the leader we need right now kamla Harris thank you everybody thank you please welcome former Secretary of Defense Leon [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Panetta whoa let me ask you for after the last two days aren't you proud to be a Democrat and I am very grateful to the Republicans and independents that have joined us have been up here on the stage and I hope they feel better about it now because I've seen all these things that even I have to be reminded of from time to time when I get my spirits down I love seeing the Obamas here I love seeing President [Music] Biden and I thought Hillary gave a great speech too and uh I love but I I love seeing all these young leaders bunch of them are coming up after me they look better they sound better and they'll be exciting I do want to say one word about President Biden remember he had an improbable turn that made him president and we were in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crash he healed our sick and put the rest of us back to work and he strengthened our alliances for peace and security he stood up for Ukraine he trying desperately to get a ceasefire in the Middle East and then he did something that's really hard for a politician to do he voluntarily gave up political power and George Washington knew that and he did it and he set the standard for us serving two turns before it was mandatory it helped his legacy and it will enhance Joe Biden's Legacy and you and it's a stark contrast to what goes on in the other party so I want to thank him for his courage compassion his class his service a sacrifice Joe Biden thank you and he kept the faith and he's infected a lot of the rest of us now let's cut to the chase I am too old to Gil the Lily two days ago I turned 78 the oldest man in my family for four generations and the only personal vanity I want to assert is I'm still younger than Donald Trump last night last night in what I thought was a very moving series of episodes we nominated commel Harris and Tim Waltz and just think about that two leaders with All-American but still improbable life stories It could only happen here their careers after all started in community courtrooms and classrooms two leaders who spent a lifetime getting the good job done now one of the things that I've noticed over my increasingly long life that a is a a presidential election is unique in several ways first of all it's the greatest job interview for the greatest job in the world secondly the Constitution says we the people get to do the hiring and the third thing is that every four years we get to change the requirements for the job so here's what I'm thinking because I try to apply this in every election will this President take us backward or forward will this president give our kids a brighter future depends will this President bring us together or tear us apart will the president increase the peace security and stability and freedom that we enjoy and extend it to others as we can we the people we have to make a decision about these kind of questions and every four years it's a little different because the people come at the candidates come at the candidates and they say as they're saying now here are our problems solve them here are our opportunities seize them here are our fears ease them here are our dreams help them come true a president can answer that call by saying I'll do my part but you have to help me we have to work together or you who can dodge what needs to be done by dividing distracting and diverting us so in 2024 we got a pretty clear choice it seems to me comma Harris for the people and the other guy who's proved even more than the first go around that he's about me myself and I I know which one I like better for our country comma Harris will work to solve our problems seize our opportunities ease our fears and make sure every single American however they vote has a chance to chase their dreams you know when she was young she worked at McDonald's and she greeted every person with that thousand wat smile and said how can I help you now she's at the Pinnacle of power and she's still asking how can I help you I will be I'll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald's [Applause] now but we got an election to win and remember we've got a guy that's pretty good at what he does Donald Trump has been a paragon of consistency he's still dividing he's still blaming he's still belittling other people he creates chaos and then he sort of curates it as if it were precious art let me say not a single day goes by even though I've been gone for well over 23 years from the White House not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for the chance I had to serve and what it meant and one of the reasons thank you wait wait wait wait one of the reasons one of the reasons I love the job so much is that in the toughest times even on the darkest days if you try hard enough there was always something good you could do for somebody else now some days that's not easy to do you've got to deal with all these emergencies or there's something going on here there yonder but colon Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision the experience the temperament the will and yes the sheer joy to get something done I mean look what does your opponent do with his voice he mostly talks about himself right so the next time you hear him don't count the lies count the eyes how the eyes his vendettas his Vengeance his complaints his conspiracies he's like one of those teners opening up before he walks out on stage like I did trying to get his lungs open by saying me me me me me [Applause] me when Cela Harris is President every day we'll begin with you you you you so we got to ask ourselves the questions if we're going to hire a president Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up and the middle out or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd size you're going to have a hard time believing this but so help me I triple checked it since the end of the Cold War in 1989 America has created about 51 million new jobs I swear I checked this three times even I couldn't believe it what's the score Democrats 50 Republicans one I'm glad that we've got a championship winning coach on our team but even the most limited of us in what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you're got 50 and the other side's got one you're ahead what about affordable housing it's a terrible problem in America now we need more and affordable health care it's why the Democrats put a limit on monthly payments for insulin and a $2,000 a year out of pocket limit and are trying to cover more drugs by bargaining for prices we need more financing for small businesses we need still to strengthen in our alliances I almost croaked in the first debate of this election season when President Trump said nobody respected