On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech at a campaign event in North Carolina.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Can we hear it for Devin, a rising senior, a soon-to-be voter, and one of our nation's
00:15incredible young leaders.
00:17Devin, you are spectacular.
00:18Good afternoon, Greensboro.
00:19Oh, it's so good to be back.
00:20It's so good to be back and with so many extraordinary leaders.
00:34Thank you all for taking the time to be here this afternoon.
00:37I want to acknowledge my dear friend, Governor Roy Cooper.
00:41He came backstage and I said, Roy, you tore it up.
00:50He and I have known each other for years because when I became Attorney General of California
00:54in 2011, he was Attorney General of North Carolina, so we have been working together
00:58for years.
00:59Roy, I thank you for the partnership you have given President Biden and me.
01:03You've been extraordinary as a leader.
01:10And Mayor Nancy Vaughn, thank you for your leadership and for greeting me so warmly on
01:15the tarmac this afternoon.
01:17Thank you, Mayor.
01:20And Chairman Alston, I thank you for your friendship and your leadership and all that
01:24you do.
01:25Thank you.
01:26Thank you.
01:27So it is good to be here in this historic place and to be, please have a seat for those
01:35who have seats.
01:40It is good to be with all the leaders of this incredible community and the leaders who have
01:45always here been on the front lines in the fight for civil rights.
01:50As some of you may know, my parents met while they were active in the civil rights movement.
02:01So as I was saying, this is an extraordinary community of people who have always fought
02:30for civil rights and for the rights of all people to speak when it is their turn to speak.
02:36And of course, all voices are important, and I say that in true sincerity.
02:49But I want to talk a bit about the work of this community in the context of the civil
02:54rights movement.
02:55My parents met when they were active in the civil rights movement.
02:58They took me to those marches when I was in a stroller.
03:01And I grew up then in a community like this one, where the people who were raising us,
03:08I look at Devin, I think about my childhood, we grew up in a community of people who when
03:14we were young, they told us literally, you are young, gifted, and black.
03:21They taught us that we could do anything and should never be burdened by the limitations
03:28of other people to be able or not be able to see what can be.
03:32And this is that community who understands and can see what is possible unburdened by
03:41what has been.
03:44We collectively, I know, were raised and taught to understand we have a duty to serve in the
03:52fight for freedom, opportunity, and justice for all.
04:00And it is that sense of duty, not if you feel like it, duty, which guides us at this very
04:10moment.
04:12We are today 117 days out from the election.
04:18And I know many of us have been involved in these elections every four years and nearly
04:21every time we say this is the one.
04:24This here is the one, this is the one, the most existential, consequential, and important
04:38election of our lifetime.
04:41Now, we always knew this election would be tough, and the past few days have been a reminder
04:48that running for President of the United States is never easy, nor should it be.
04:54But one thing we know about our President, Joe Biden, is that he is a fighter, he is
05:01a fighter.
05:05And he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get back up, you get back up.
05:16So we will continue to fight, and we will continue to organize, and in November, we
05:21will win.
05:22We will win.
05:23Because we know what's at stake.
05:31And in this election, there can be no doubt, no doubt, who you can count on to fight for
05:40you when it counts.
05:42It's simple.
05:43President Biden and I fight for the American people, Donald Trump does not.
05:48He fights for himself.
05:52Roy talked about it, look at the issue of affordable health care.
05:56When Donald Trump was in the White House, he tried more than 60 times, 60 times, to
06:03end the Affordable Care Act, to take health care back from millions of Americans, including
06:103 million black Americans, to once again give insurance companies the power to deny coverage
06:17to people with pre-existing conditions.
06:19You remember that?
06:20Remember what that was like?
06:23When people were being denied health care because of a pre-existing condition?
06:29Children with asthma?
06:31Women who had survived breast cancer?
06:34Grandparents with diabetes?
06:38Let's not forget what not too long ago, that kind of perspective means and meant to real
06:47people.
06:48Our neighbors, our friends.
06:51President Joe Biden and I, on the other hand, have defended the Affordable Care Act and
06:55made it stronger because we know access to health care should be a right and not just
07:05a privilege for those who can afford it.
07:13With your support, we also have the strength to finally take on big pharma and lower the
07:18cost of prescription drugs.
07:25It was with the knowledge that black people are 60% more likely to have diabetes, Latinos
07:3070% more likely to have diabetes, that we capped the cost of insulin for our seniors
07:35at $35 a month.
07:43We listened and heard and are clear about who we represent.
07:47We are finally making it so that medical debt can no longer be used against your credit
07:52score.
07:55There's the issue of student loan debt.
08:03When Donald Trump was in the White House, he tried to end student loan forgiveness for
08:07public servants.
08:09Who are our public servants?
08:11Will they include our teachers, nurses, firefighters?
08:20Joe Biden, on the other hand, Joe Biden and I, well, we have forgiven student loan debt
08:26for nearly 5 million Americans and twice as much for our public servants.
08:38We, together with you, have also taken on the issue of gun violence, knowing the tragic
08:49reality.
08:50Greensboro, gun violence today in America is the number one killer of the children of
08:56America.
08:58Think about that.
09:00Not car accidents, not some form of cancer, gun violence is the number one killer of the
09:07children of America.
09:10And black Americans are 10 times as likely to be the victim of gun homicide.
09:15Over the years, I have held the hands of far too many mothers and fathers and tried to
09:22comfort them after their child was killed by gun violence, both in mass shootings and
09:29what we call everyday gun violence.
09:33So Joe Biden and I decided to prioritize this issue and to address this crisis.
09:39We passed the first major gun safety law in nearly 30 years, a bipartisan law to strengthen
09:51background checks.
09:54We created the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which I lead.
10:02We invested $1 billion to hire mental health counselors in public schools to help heal
10:09the mental trauma of gun violence.
10:16Because far too many of our children go to school every day learning about how this could
10:24impact them in a very real way.
10:27Last fall, I did a tour speaking with Gen Z, I love Gen Z, and I'd ask them, raise your
10:36hand if you have ever had to, in schools, any time between kindergarten and 12th grade,
10:41I'd ask them, have you had to endure an active shooter drill?
10:47And to the older adults here, I will tell you, it is bone chilling when they respond,
10:51almost every hand went up.
10:54These are very real issues.
10:57On the other hand, Donald Trump opposed reasonable gun safety reforms and cut funding for gun
11:03violence prevention.
11:05We simply know we cannot count on Donald Trump to help keep America and Americans safe, not
11:15here at home and not on the world stage.
11:19And yes, I am also talking then about national security.
11:25This week, our president, Joe Biden, is hosting more than 30 global leaders in Washington
11:31D.C. for the NATO Summit.
11:34Now NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known.
11:46And thanks to our president, Joe Biden, thanks to Joe Biden, if there is one single person
11:54who deserves credit in the world for strengthening NATO, making it stronger, making it more united
12:03and more effective, that is Joe Biden, that is Joe Biden.
12:13And having made it more effective, then together with our allies around the globe, we are standing
12:21up to the dictator Putin, all to ensure America is strong and Americans are safe.
12:38On the other hand, do watch, because it is not new.
12:43On the other hand, watch as Donald Trump has embraced Putin.
12:47Watch that.
12:48It's not just happening today, it's been happening.
12:53As he, Trump, threatened to abandon NATO and encouraged Putin to invade our allies.
13:04He even said Russia can, and I'm going to quote him now and forgive the use of the word,
13:09but he said, quote, Russia can, quote, do whatever the hell they want.
13:16And he wants to be the president of the United States?
13:24And understand, as Trump bows down to dictators, he makes America weak.
13:31And that is disqualifying for someone who wants to be commander in chief of the United States of America.
13:39That is disqualifying.
13:47So, all of this to say, there is so much at stake in this moment.
13:56And last week, we were again reminded of that fact, when the Supreme Court basically, basically
14:07told this individual, who had been convicted of fraud, that going forward, he will be immune
14:16for activity we know he is prepared to engage in if he gets back into the White House.
14:26This is not 2016, this is not 2020.
14:30Understand the significance of what the Supreme Court just did.
14:33And consider that in the context of the fact that Donald Trump has openly vowed if re-elected
14:40he will be a dictator on day one.
14:44That he will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies, round up peaceful
14:51protesters and throw them out of our country, and even, and I will quote, terminate the
14:58United States Constitution.
15:02Let us be very clear.
15:04Someone who suggests we should, quote, terminate our Constitution, should never again have
15:10the chance to stand behind a microphone, and never again have the chance to stand behind
15:19the seal of the President of the United States of America.
15:33And some of you, of course, have heard that Trump's advisors have created a 900-page blueprint
15:41for their agenda for the second term, if they were to have one.
15:45They call it Project 2025.
15:49And it includes, check this out, it includes a plan to cut Social Security.
15:57It includes a plan to repeal our $35 cap on insulin.
16:03It includes a plan to eliminate the Department of Education and end programs like Head Start.
16:13I say to the teachers and the students here.
16:18And Project 2025 outlines a plan to limit access to contraception, and for a nationwide
16:25abortion ban, with or without an act of Congress.
16:31And on the topic of reproductive freedom, I know we all agree, one does not have to
16:37abandon their faith, or deeply held beliefs to agree, the government should not be telling
16:44her what to do with her body.
16:46If she chooses, she will talk, if she chooses, with her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her
16:57imam, but not her government telling her what to do.
17:04If implemented, Project 2025 would be the latest attack in Donald Trump's full-on assault
17:13on reproductive freedom, because we remember then-President Donald Trump handpicked three
17:19members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to undo the protections
17:26of Roe v. Wade, and as he intended, they did.
17:30Now over 20 states have Trump abortion bans.
17:35Now in the South, where the majority of black women live, every state except for Virginia
17:45has a ban, many with no exceptions even for rape or incest.
17:51And Trump proudly takes credit for overturning Roe.
17:55Make no mistake.
17:58If he gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban and outlaw abortion in every
18:04single state, but we are not going to let that happen.
18:09We are not going to let that happen, because we have worked too hard and fought too long
18:20to see our daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than our mothers.
18:32And when Congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of Roe, our President
18:39Joe Biden will sign it.
18:48So ultimately, in this election, we each face a question.
18:56What kind of country do we want to live in?
19:00That's the question being posed to each one of us.
19:03Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law, or a country
19:12of chaos, fear, and hate?
19:17We each, and here's the beauty in this, we each have the power to answer that question.
19:26We have the power.
19:28And North Carolina, we were born for a time such as this.
19:34We were born for a time such as this.
19:40If the Supreme Court says the laws do not apply to Donald Trump, if extremists in Congress
19:46continue to bow down to him, if people like Mike Pence are not around to stand up to him,
19:53our last line of defense is the ballot box.
19:56Your vote, your voice.
20:01We the people have the power.
20:05So today I ask, North Carolina, are you ready to make your voices heard?
20:11Do we believe in freedom?
20:15Do we believe in opportunity?
20:19Do we believe in the promise of America?
20:23And are we ready to fight for it?
20:27And when we fight, we win.
20:31God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.