Joe Biden Drive-in Rally Speech Transcript Broward County, FL October 29

Joe Biden: (00:24)
Thank you all so much for being here. I tell you what, I do miss the opportunity to just wander in and shake hands with all of you. But we decided a while ago that we were going to try to be responsible and not be… I won’t get into it, but just be responsible. And so thank you for wearing your mask and thank you for the social distancing. And thank you for being here. Ladies and gentlemen, Manny and Patricia, I want to thank you so much for being here today, for sharing your memory of Joaquin. Folks, I know what it means to lose a child and many of you do as well. And no matter how often, no matter how long ago it occurred, every time you stand up and you want to talk about your son or daughter that you lost, it brings back the memories as if it happened 10 minutes ago. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and talk.

Joe Biden: (01:29)
And you feel like you have a black hole’s been ripped in the middle of your chest and you’re being sucked into it. But through your courage and the courage of the Parkland families, like my friend Corey Hixon and his mom Debbie and brother Tom who are here today and other students who led the march for our lives to take on the NRA and win. We’re going to help us all turn tragedy into purpose. I want to thank you for your bravery, thank you for your resolve. I want to thank all the speakers that went ahead of me, including the NBA stars joining us today. I tell you what, the Miami Heat. You ever heard of the Miami Heat, I guess? Well, I’m allowed to say nice things about the Miami Heat even though I come from Sixers country. I apologize for that.

Joe Biden: (02:25)
But I want to tell you, they made it to the finals full of grit and toughness. And Karl-Anthony Towns, Karl, he knows what it’s like to deal with this coronavirus. Karl and his dad lost their mom and wife back in April. And a lot of these families didn’t have to lose anybody. And, thank you very much for being here. As well as my friends, Congressman Ted Deutch, thank you for the passport, Ted, into your district. I appreciate it. And my friend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. We got to send the votes back to the House of Representatives. We’re going to increase the numbers in the House of Representatives. Five days left folks. Millions of Americans are already voting, millions more are going to vote by the end of this week. And I believe when you use your power, the power to vote, you’re going to change the course of this country for generations to come, at home and abroad.

Joe Biden: (03:25)
This election is the most important one you’ve ever voted in. Whether it’s your first or tenth. Ladies and gentlemen, the heart and soul of this country is at stake right here in Florida. It’s up to you. You hold the key. If Florida goes blue, it’s over. It’s over. Look, the press has heard me say this a long time, Wall Street and CEOs didn’t build this country. People standing out here in your automobiles, you are the ones that built this country. The middle class built this country, and you just built the middle class. You’re the ones who are going to save the country now that you built it. In these final days, keep that sense of empowerment with you. That sense of optimism of what we can do, what we will overcome. I’ve never been more optimistic about America or the American people that am today. And on November the third, we’re going to unite this country and show the world who we really are.

Joe Biden: (04:34)
I know it’s hard. All these past few months have been so much pain, so much suffering. So much loss. Over 225,000 dead Americans because of the negligence and the consequence of COVID. More than 16,000 here in Florida alone. As I said in April, Karl-Anthony, he lost his mom. Millions of people out there are out of work, on the edge, can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and Donald Trump has given up. Over the weekend, his White House chief of staff said, and I quote, “We’re not going to control this pandemic.” In the debate last week with Donald Trump, he said, “We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away. We’re learning how to live with it.” No, he expects us to learn how to die with it. That’s what I told him. He’s doing nothing. We’re learning to die with it and Donald Trump has waved the white flag, abandoned our families and surrendered to the virus. But the American people don’t give up.

Joe Biden: (05:41)
We don’t give in and we surely don’t cower and nor will I under any circumstance. President Trump’s super spreader events that he’s spreading more virus around the country. And here in Florida today, he’s spreading division in addition, division and discord. We need a president who is going to bring us together, not pull us apart. I’ll put in place a plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. I’ve already done it and bring this country together around testing and tracing and masking. It’s estimated by the leading doctors in America, including Trump’s own director of the CDC and Dr. Fauci, they called for a mask mandate last week. If we just wore a mask over the next few months, we could save 100,000 projected deaths. 100,000 lives. We’re expected to lose another 200,000 people between now and the end of this year if we do nothing. This is not a political statement, it’s a patriotic duty for God’s sake. But still Trump refused to listen to the science.

Joe Biden: (06:52)
And we shouldn’t be politicizing the race for a vaccine either, we should be planning it safe and equitable and free distribution. Providing the funding for PPE, the mask and everything we need to protect ourselves. Setting a national standard for schools and businesses to reopen. Bringing together Republicans and Democrats to deliver the economic relief that’s already been passed in the House of Representatives for working families, the young employed, for schools, for businesses. Allowing you to stay in your home if you don’t have the money for rent. Allowing you to stay in your home. 20 million people are on the cliff of losing their home for next month’s mortgage payment. I’ve said it before, I’m not going to shut down the economy. I’m not going to shut down the country, but I’m going to shut down the virus.

Joe Biden: (07:45)
Look, when Barack and I left office, we left Donald Trump a strong economy, stronger than the one he handled. And just like everything else he inherited, he blew it. Now he’s squandering that economy like he squandered everything else. But we can build back and we can build back better with an economy that begins to reward work, not wealth. We can do without raising taxes on a single person making less than 400,000 bucks a year. I promise you that. My word. But if you make $400,000 and above, you’re going to start paying your fair share. Ladies and gentlemen, all we’re going to ask is the wealthiest among us and the major corporations just began to pay their fair share. 91 of the Fortune 500 companies pay zero in taxes after making billions of dollars. They have to pay a minimum tax. Look, why should a firefighter, an educator, why should a nurse pay a higher tax rate than the super wealthy? Why should you pay more taxes than Donald Trump pays?

Joe Biden: (09:11)
And that’s a fact. $750. Remember what he said when that was raised a while ago, how he only pays… He said, “Because I’m smart. I know how to game the system.” He games the system at your expense. He games the system at the expense of hardworking American people. We’re going to deliver tax relief for working families in the middle class. We’re going to help people buy their first home, pay for their healthcare premiums. And for childcare, we’re going to care for the aging and loved one. We’re going to make sure you can wipe out your college debt as well. We give more help to race horses than we do college students. Look, Trump got the Supreme Court justice passed and he did it for one reason to try to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Again, since he got an office he’s been trying to, and the Republican and have been trying to multiple times, try to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.

Joe Biden: (10:14)
If they get their way this time, 100 million Americans will lose their protection for preexisting conditions. If you have asthma, diabetes, any pre-existing condition, they can charge you so much you can’t afford anything. Including 8.4 million Floridians who have pre-existing conditions are now covered. Complications with COVID, heart scarring, lung scarring, heart disease, they’re going to become preexisting conditions. Allowing insurers to jack up your premiums, deny your coverage. And most people don’t remember it particularly the young people, women will once again be able to charged more for healthcare just because they’re a woman. Donald Trump thinks healthcare is a privilege, I think it’s a right of every American.

Joe Biden: (11:04)
If you all get out and vote, we’ll not only restore Obamacare, we’re going to strengthen it and build on it. The Biden plan is going to make sure if you have private insurance, you want to keep it, you can keep it. But you also have an option under my plan. To have a Medicare like option, a public option. We’re going to increase subsidies for lower premiums and deductibles, out of pocket spending. And we are going to reduce prescription drug crisis, the experts acknowledged, by 60%. Folks, we’re going to make sure we keep preconditions and protections for people with those conditions. We’re going to protect social security, Medicare. Meanwhile, the social security actuary says the plan that Trump says he wants to institute if he’s reelected would bankrupt security by the year 2023. Ladies and gentlemen, people paid that for their entire careers. Go home and tell that to your parents and grandparents. It will not happen on Biden’s watch.

Joe Biden: (12:19)
Folks, we need to vote for the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was proof that courage, conviction, and moral clarity can change the world without being vicious and mean. She and Justice Scalia disagreed in everything, but they were friends. They disagreed. We got to get back to that. Politics has become so ugly and mean and disruptive, but we can be the voices for justice in her name. We have to make our voices heard. You have to vote. You have to vote because while Donald Trump fails to contain white supremacy, we can deliver on racial justice. Donald Trump, he doesn’t believe there’s any such thing as systemic racism as a problem. He won’t even say black lives matter. Well, you know what I know, black lives do matter and so do others. That’s why this season of protest is broken out all across the nation. Let me make it clear, protesting is not burning, it’s not looting, it’s not violence and must never be tolerated and it won’t.

Joe Biden: (13:30)
But these protestors are a cry for justice from communities that have long, long had the knee of injustice on their neck. The names George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, [inaudible 00:13:45] They’re not soon going to be forgotten, not by me, not by us and not by this country. We’re going to inspire a new wave of justice in America, but true justice is also about economic justice, justice and education, housing, access to capital, good paying jobs. And by the way, it was long overdue time the minimum wage in America is $15 an hour. And by the way, my economic plan has been analyzed by the guys on Wall Street. You know what they say? They say my plan will create 18.6 million good paying jobs. 7 million more than he’s going to be able to create if he got elected and a trillion dollars more in economic growth. What he’s forgotten, when you all do better, everybody does better, everybody does better.

Joe Biden: (14:54)
It’s not a zero sum game, it’s about financial stability and giving families of color a real shot to own a home, to start a business, to send a child to college debt free. So they can build the wealth, pass on opportunity down through generations. Is that how every white family that came from my background got it? They were able to get a house and build an equity, pass it on and grow it. That’s what we’re going to do. But we have to vote to ensure the full promise of this country. We have to vote for new Cuba policy as well. This administration approach isn’t working. Cuba’s no closer to freedom and democracy today than it was four years ago. In fact, there are more political prisoners and secret police are as brutal as ever. And Russia once again is a major presence in Havana. So much for his policy. President Trump can’t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people or the Venezuela people for that matter when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world.

Joe Biden: (16:02)
Started with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Trump is the worst possible standard bearer for democracy in places like Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea. For my entire career, I’ve stood for democracy and human rights. For freedom of the press, assembly, freedom of religion and against dictators, whether they’re left or right. Folks, it unconscionable that the Trump administration says it cares so much are deporting hundreds of Cubans and Venezuelans back to their dictatorships. Trump loves to talk, but he doesn’t care about Cuban and Venezuelan people. He won’t even grant temporary protective status for Venezuelans fleeing the oppressive regime of Maduro who I’ve met with and he’s a thug. Folks, I will, but we have to vote. And finally, we have to vote to meet the challenge of the climate crisis. This guy doesn’t understand much of anything.

Joe Biden: (17:05)
You’ve all seen the impact more than most. Devastating hurricanes that lay waste to whole communities. Economic toll is astounding. It grows every year and the human toll was worse. Lost lives, lost homes, small businesses shattered. First responders put at risk. When you talk about global warming, Donald Trump thinks hoax. Well, then he says we shouldn’t… By the way, do you know? This is a guy who is the stable genius. Remember, he’s the guy that said our problem with the Revolutionary War, we didn’t have enough airports. God’s truth. He’s also the guy when he talked about how many bad hurricanes are coming across the warm waters in the Atlantic from Africa, he said, “Maybe we should nuke them.” And also by the way, windmills cause cancer according to him. Look, what’s this guy talking about? But we know that we got to do something about it.

Joe Biden: (18:10)
Combating climate change means jobs. We can unleash the American ingenuity and manufacturing to build a stronger, more climate resistant nation, creating millions of new high paying jobs. And we can change the path we’re on, but we’ve got to act now. This country can’t afford to wait four more years of Donald Trump’s denial, who thinks the only responsible to the people who voted for him. I don’t see the presidency that way. I don’t see the presidency that way. In 2008 and 2012, Florida placed their trust in me at Barack and each day we’re in office, we worked as hard for you and the entire country as we did not red states, blue states, it was always the United States of America. Folks, I was reminded of that earlier this month when I visited the sacred grounds of Gettysburg. Abraham Lincoln taught us that we need to unite our nation, that a house divided cannot stand.

Joe Biden: (19:20)
And I was reminded of it earlier this week when I went to Warm Springs, Georgia. Reflecting on FDR taught us about the need to heal the nation. I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I’ll govern as an American president to unite and to heal. I’ll work as hard for those who didn’t support me as those who do. That’s the job of the president. A duty of caring, caring for everyone. And you to have a sacred duty, if I may say, and that’s to vote. It matters. Florida matters. In these final days stay empowered, stay optimistic, stay united. Make a plan and vote and help get out to vote. Visit iwillvote.com/fl. Return your ballot today if you haven’t done it so far, or you can get to vote early in person through November 1st. But you’ve got to get out and vote and make sure everyone you know votes as well.

Joe Biden: (20:28)
Folks, there’s nothing we cannot do from beating the NRA to restoring rationality and the climate. I’ll never forget what President Kennedy said when he promised to send us to the moon in his speech. He said, “We’re doing it because we refuse to postpone.” That’s what Americans do, refuse to postpone what is needed. I refuse to postpone my work america must do now. There’s nothing, this is not hyperbolely, there is nothing beyond the capacity of United States of America. There’s no limit to America’s future. We’re the only country in every crisis we’ve inherited, we’ve come out of it stronger than we went in it, because this is United States of America. And the only thing that can tear us apart is America itself.

Joe Biden: (21:21)
A president like Trump who appeals to our fears, president who pours gasoline in every flame he can find. Person who knows the only way he can win is if he divides us on race, nationality, national origin, gender. Look, everybody knows who Donald Trump is, we got to show them who we are. Article today in the press. I want to read a quote from. It says, “Never before in modern presidential politics has a candidate been so reliant on wide-scale efforts to depress the vote than Trump.” He knows if you vote, he can’t win. Why do you think they’re spending so much time keeping black folks and brown folks and poor folks from being able to vote? Why making it so hard? Because he knows when America votes, they reject people like him. We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division and we choose science over fiction. And yes, we choose truth over lies.

Joe Biden: (22:39)
So folks, it’s time to stand up, take back our democracy. We can do this. We can be better than what we’ve been. We can be who we are at our best. As I said, the United States of America. There’s nothing beyond our capacity. I promise you. I promise you. And I promise you if you elect me, when I’m wrong I’ll acknowledge it. I’ll take responsibility, but I tell you what, I’m going to unite this country and we’re going to move like we haven’t in a long time. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.