Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) hold a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, good afternoon everybody. Now today is a great, great day for the Democratic Party
00:08and the country. Vice President Harris will soon be our nominee and will be elected president
00:14in November. We are brimming with excitement, enthusiasm, unity. On Sunday, President Biden
00:24showed the world what a great man he is. His true patriotism, his profound sense of decency
00:31came shining through. We all know it was not an easy decision for him. But just as he has
00:38done in his entire life, President Biden's selfless decision not to seek the nomination
00:46put our country, our party, and our future first. At his core, he's just an honorable
00:52man, a family man, a man of deep faith. We love him. We truly do. I'll have more to say
01:01on President Biden later this afternoon in my floor speech. But President Biden's selfless
01:09decision has given the Democratic Party the opportunity to unite behind a new nominee
01:16and boy, oh boy, are we enthusiastic. Since President Biden's announcement, we've seen
01:22the Democratic Party swiftly coalesce behind Vice President Kamala Harris. When I spoke
01:32with her Sunday, she said she wanted the opportunity to win the nomination on her own and to do
01:39so from the grassroots up, not top down. We deeply respected that, Hakeem and I did.
01:48She said she would work to earn the support of our party and boy, has she done so in quick
01:54order. Vice President Harris has done a truly impressive job securing the majority of delegates
02:01needed to win the Democratic Party's nomination to be our next president to the United States.
02:08The vast majority of my senators quickly and enthusiastically endorsed her. So now
02:14that the process has played out from the grassroots bottom up, we are here today to throw our
02:21support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. I'm clapping. You don't have to. It's a happy
02:32day. What can I say? Together, we will keep and hopefully grow the Senate majority and
02:41under future Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, we will win back the House. Democrats are moving forward
02:48stronger and more united than ever before. In just the last 36 hours, I have seen a surge
02:56of enthusiasm from every corner of our party uniting behind Vice President Harris. An enthusiasm
03:04felt in every corner of the country and it's contagious among Democrats. The volunteers,
03:10the small contributions, they're just pouring in in ways even beyond our expectations. Now
03:17we all know that Vice President Harris has a tremendous record to run on and now begins
03:24the next chapter in our quest to make sure Donald Trump does not become president. Today
03:32with one voice, we speak about the dangers he presents to working families, to our country
03:39and to our democracy. We see very clearly how nervous the Republicans are about our
03:46new nominee. Well, they ain't seen nothing yet. Last night, Vice President Harris secured
03:52a majority of delegates. Today in Wisconsin and across America, we begin our next chapter
03:59and it will be our best yet. Vice President Harris will beat Donald Trump and become the
04:06next president of the United States of America. Applause. Hakeem. Thank you, Leader Schumer.
04:19Joe Biden is a patriotic American. Joe Biden is a heroic American. Joe Biden is a great
04:28American. Joe Biden will go down in American history as one of the most consequential presidents
04:39of all time. President Joe Biden has made the selfless decision to pass the torch to
04:48Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready, willing and able to lead us into the future.
05:01Kamala Harris and her candidacy has excited and energized the House Democratic Caucus,
05:10the Democratic Party and the nation. Vice President Harris has earned the nomination
05:20from the grassroots up and not the top down. She is ready. She is willing. She is able
05:31to energetically and emphatically lead America into the future. Kamala Harris is a common
05:41sense leader who knows how to deliver real results for hardworking American taxpayers.
05:48Kamala Harris is a courageous leader. Who has worked hard throughout her entire career
05:55to keep our communities safe. Kamala Harris is a compassionate leader who will build
06:02an affordable economy that makes life better for everyday Americans. Kamala Harris will
06:10fight for our freedom. Kamala Harris will fight for our families. Kamala Harris will
06:16fight for our future. I'm proud to strongly endorse Kamala Harris to be the 47th president
06:24of the United States of America. We're going to hold the Senate. We're going to win the
06:29House. We're going to elect Kamala Harris as our next president in November.
06:36Thank you. Yes, we're questions on this subject. Yes, I know you said that this would be a
06:42bottom up process, but Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States. There
06:46was no other competition. This is going to be selected by party delegates, insiders,
06:53what's your case to the American people and to the Democratic voters that voted for Joe Biden
06:57that this isn't a coronation? The bottom line, it was a bottom up process. People just rallied
07:03right to her side. The enthusiasm in this big, diverse representative party was amazing. You
07:10could, you could, it was palpable. You could cut it with a knife. Yes. Are you worried that
07:15Republican efforts will bubble up in states to keep Harris off the ballot, to leave Joe Biden
07:20on the ballot? No. Yes. When are you guys going to meet with the vice president soon?
07:27See, we're getting more questions in with short answers. You had a number of conversations with
07:33the president over the last several weeks. He went up to Delaware. That's described as a bit
07:38of an emotional meeting of sorts. I'm wondering, did you ever personally ask him not to run for
07:45reelection? Look, the, what I would say is that the president has done an amazing, amazing job
07:53as president, one of the best we've ever had. And he put his country first and made the right
07:59decision. Thank you everybody.