Joe Biden Campaign Event Speech Transcript Philadelphia November 1

Joe Biden: (00:24)
Hello, hello, hello. Hello, Philadelphia. It’s great to these everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I want to thank Bishop Reid. I really mean it. Sharon Baptist Church for letting us borrow your parking lot. And the DNC Vice Chair, I tell you what, that man can make a speech, can’t he? He’s pretty darn impressive. Vice Chair Blake, for all you do for our party and all you do to get out the vote. And thank you Congressman Dwight Evans for coming out and speaking today. And for all of you, all of you, all you do to fight for the people of Philadelphia and every single day in Congress. I also want to say thank you to Bishop Hunter and Reverend Mark Tyler, State Representative Morgan. Where’s Morgan. Is he … there you go. Okay. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being here. And Bishop Louis Felton, and also want to thank Sharon Baptist choir, church choir. Aren’t they great?

Joe Biden: (01:43)
You know, one of the things I most enjoyed about being back on the campaign trail was meeting with the Black faith leaders all around the country. The churches I get to go to during the primaries and over 400 Black leaders, church leaders, supporting us. Almost every Sunday I’d get to sit in the pew and get inspired. I’d go to mass first early in the morning, then I go to the Black church to get some hope and some invigoration, man. I’d talked to people. I talked to people, hear what was on their minds. Pray with them. And that’s what, it was renewing. It was not about me, but our entire family. Jill would be with me and my grandkids. One of my grandkids is with me today, who’s a senior here in Philadelphia in college.

Joe Biden: (02:34)
I also thought a lot about this campaign. It’s been unlike any other campaign in history. There’s one thing that remains the same, we have to earn our democracy. We have to get out and vote. And as my late friend John Lewis reminded us, freedom is not a state, freedom is an act. We have to defend it. We have to vote. And this is the most important election of our lifetimes. We’re at an inflection point. So we have to vote like we never did before. Every day, every day is a new reminder of how high the stakes are, of how far the other side will go to try to suppress the turnout, especially here in Philadelphia. President Trump is terrified of what will happen in Pennsylvania. He knows if the people of Pennsylvania get to have their say, if you don’t have your say, he doesn’t stand a chance.

Joe Biden: (03:34)
But the American people, the American people will not be silenced. Over 90 million people have already voted. Already voted. They’ve had enough. They’ve had enough. There’s too much on the line to sit it out, but we only have two more days. Two more days we can put an end to this presidency that has from the very beginning sought to divide us, to tear us apart.

Joe Biden: (04:05)
Folks, in two days we can put an end to a president that has failed to protect this nation. In two days, we can put and end to a presidency that fanned the flames of hate, poured gasoline on every opportunity he had all across this nation. As I said, millions of Americans have already voted. Millions more will vote in the two days ahead, but there’s still a lot of Pennsylvanians who haven’t voted yet, and we need every single one of you to get out and vote on Tuesday.

Joe Biden: (04:39)
My message is simple, Pennsylvania is critical in this election. I live in Delaware, but I’m a Pennsylvania boy born in Scranton. And I want to tell you, the last time Donald Trump ran he won this state by 44,000 votes. So every single vote matters. The power, the power to change this country is literally in your hands. I don’t care how hard Donald Trump tries, there is nothing, nothing he’s going to do to stop this nation from voting. No matter what he tries.

Joe Biden: (05:25)
And folks, when American’s vote, America will be heard. When America’s heard, I believe the message is going to be loud and clear. It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home. Time to breathe some life back into this nation. We’re done. We’re tired of the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility. We got a lot of work to do. I’m I elected your president, we’re going to do it and we’re going to act and we’re going to start from the very first day. We’re going to act to get COVID under control. It’s almost criminal the way he has handled it.

Joe Biden: (06:17)
On day one of my presidency I’m going to put in action a plan I’ve been talking about for months, masking, social distancing, testing, tracing, a plan for full and fair and free distribution of therapeutics, vaccines, when we get one. A plan to address the disproportionate way this virus … vaccines when we get a one. A plan to address the disproportionate way this virus has been hitting and devastating the black community across America.

Joe Biden: (06:57)
Folks, every single day we’re seeing race-based disparities in every aspect of this virus. Higher infections rates, lower access to testing, harder time quarantining safely, lower access to quality treatment when you become infected, and tragically, higher mortality rates, three times as many African Americans are dying as white Americans … when they get the virus One in 100 Black Americans, excuse me, one in 1,000 Black Americans have died from COVID-19. And if we don’t change between now and January, it’s estimated one in 500 by the end of this pandemic. That is a mass casualty event in the Black community. And it’s totally unnecessary. Totally uncalled for. My public health plan will ensure the needs of communities that are being hit the hardest by this virus are a priority, not an afterthought.

Joe Biden: (08:11)
We’re going to have the plan to get our economy back on track. Not to get the back where we were, but to build back better, to make sure everyone is dealt in on a full scale share of the American dream. We’re going to address systemic racism and build real rural economic opportunity and equality for the Black community. The blinders have been taken off. The American people have seen, they’ve seen how bad things are. To make it easier to start a business, to buy your first home, to pursue an education after high school without being burdened with debt, to invest in HBCUs that do so much to mold Black leaders of tomorrow.

Joe Biden: (08:56)
I mean it. It’s not just talk. I mean it. We’re going to have to deliver racial justice in America. I see in all the protests here in Philadelphia and across the country a cry for justice. Folks, protesting is not burning or looting and violence must never be tolerated. It won’t. But the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Walter Wallace Jr., they will not soon be forgotten. They will not be forgotten by me, they will not be forgotten by you, and they’ll not be forgotten by the American people because here’s what they’re going to do. They’re inspiring a new wave of justice in America. And George Floyd’s little girl, six years old, said to me when I went to be with the family … I knelt down to say hi to her and she looked at me and she said, “Daddy is going to change the world.” Daddy, that’s what she said to me. Six years old. Daddy.

Joe Biden: (10:03)
Look, we can change the world. Not in one fell swoop. We can change it. We all know this country has to come together. We can not afford four more years of anger, hate, and division that we’ve seen under this president. Folks, look, from the day he announced, from the moment he came down that escalator, what did he say in New York? He said, “We’re going to go out and get those rapist Mexicans.” Rapist Mexicans. He put a ban on all Muslims coming to the United States. And the way he talked about the African-American community. The way he talked about the Hispanic community.

Joe Biden: (10:48)
Look, folks, we got to come together. I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an American president for everybody. I will work as hard for those who don’t support me as those who do support me. I mean it. That’s the job of a president, the duty to care, the duty to care for everyone. In President Biden’s America, there will be no red states or blue states, there will only be the United States of America.

Joe Biden: (11:25)
Look, our faith in our country is being tested, but our faith in God is helping us through because of all of you. Thank you for your commitment to the greatest commandment, love our neighbors as ourselves. And for our dedication to never grow weary of doing good. Being with you all reminds me of that gospel hymn that inspired so many of us. When I last talked to John Lewis, as he’s dying, he reminded me of it. I don’t feel no ways tired. I’ve come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy. I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me. He did not leave us. We are not tired. The road hasn’t been easy, but we’ve come too far to stop now.

Joe Biden: (12:29)
So please vote. Get everyone you know to vote. We need to get every soul in Philadelphia to the polls. Your voice, your vote matters. Your voice deserves to be heard. And if you still have an absentee ballot, get it to a dropbox as soon as you can. Or you can vote on election day, but make a plan. And I mean it, make a plan now. Help get out the vote. Go to iwillvote.com/pa.

Joe Biden: (13:01)
Folks, folks, you know I’ve been doing this awhile. One of the reasons I got elected in the first place in Delaware across the line was because of the folks in Pennsylvania. All the media and Pennsylvania, all the media in Delaware for the first 25 years of my career was all Philadelphia television. There wasn’t no Delaware television. And I was very happy to have the moniker of being known as Pennsylvania’s third Senator. I know Philadelphia well. I married a Philly girl, by the way. And by the way, I got my Eagles jacket on.

Joe Biden: (13:48)
Folks, here’s what I want to say and I’ll conclude. You’ve been here a long time. I’ll never forget when President John F. Kennedy said, when he promised that we’re going to go to the moon. He said, he said words and my colleagues in the senate always used to kid me for repeating. He said, “We’re doing it because we Americans, we refuse to postpone.” Well, I refuse to postpone the incredible opportunities available to the American people. I refuse to postpone what we can do. There’s nothing beyond the capacity of the United States of America. Nothing. There’s no limit to America’s future. The blinders have been taken off. The only thing could tear America part is America itself. And that’s exactly what Trump’s been trying to do from the very beginning, dividing America based on race, religion, gender, national origin. It’s wrong. It’s not who we are. This is not who we are. Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. Let’s keep showing them who we are.

Joe Biden: (15:01)
Folks, and I mean this, this is not just campaign rhetoric. We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division. We choose science over fiction and yes, we choose truth over lies, the multiple lies he repeats. It’s time to stand up. It’s time to take back our democracy. We can do this. We’re better than this. We’re better than what we’ve been. We can be at our best. This is the United States of America. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. I love you. I love you. You brought me to the dance. Thank you, thank you, thank you. God love you all.

Joe Biden: (16:11)
Keep the faith. Every time I walk into my grandpop’s house in Scranton, walk out the door, Bishop B’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith.” When my grandmother was alive, she’d yell, “No Joey, spread it.” Let’s spread the faith.