Mike Pence Carter Lake, Iowa Campaign Visit Speech Transcript October 1

Mike Pence: (00:27)
Well, hello, Iowa. It’s great to be with all of you. To my friend, David Young, to the amazing Ben Carson and his wonderful wife, Candy. What great words. To Iowa’s own and our former acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker. To all my fellow Americans from near and far, it is great to be back in the Hawkeye State, especially be here at Carter Lake with Tyler Owen and all the great men and women of one of the premier manufacturing facilities in the country, PVS Structures. And it’s especially great to be here just 33 days away from another great victory all across the state of Iowa and all across America when we reelect President Donald Trump for four more years.

Crowd: (01:33)
Four more years. Four more years. Four more years.

Mike Pence: (01:46)
So thank you all for coming out today. It really is wonderful to see you and the warm reception we arrived since we landed on the other side of the river. But it is great to be with you all. And please, if you got a seat, grab one. I got a lot to say. It’s a privilege to be here with all of you, but I also want to mention that seventh generation Iowan that you just heard from. He served a couple of terms in the Congress of the United States. He was a champion for Iowa’s families, service members, veterans, and farmers. He is a man of integrity, a man of principle. And I am here to ask all of you to send David Young back to a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. But David Young and I are really here for one reason, and one reason only. Just like all of you, we know that Iowa and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House. It’s on, Carter Lake. And the road to victory goes straight through Iowa.

Mike Pence: (02:57)
And if you didn’t know it was on, maybe you missed that debate the other night. I mean, I’ll tell you what. President Donald Trump took our case to the American people, and he took the fight to Joe Biden. And we’re going to keep on fighting for 33 days all the way to victory on November the third. As the president said, he held Joe Biden accountable for 47 years of failure. Shipping jobs and dreams abroad, and bowing to the violent mob. And I promise you, we’re going to keep taking that case every single day. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come and the story that we have to tell the people of Iowa. I mean, four years ago, a movement was born. A movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. Here in Iowa, you believe we could be strong again. You believe we could be prosperous again. You said yes to President Donald Trump in 2016, and I just know that Iowa’s going to say yes to four more years of President Donald Trump in 2020. And it’s because of what we’ve done. It’s because of what we’ve done under this president’s leadership.

Mike Pence: (04:17)
I mean, four years ago, we inherited a military that was hollowed out by years of devastating budget cuts, an economy that was struggling to break out of the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. Terrorism was on the rise around the world, and we witnessed a steady assault on our most cherished values and liberties. But in three short years, with President Donald Trump in the White House with strong allies on Capitol Hill, this father of a United States Marine is proud to report to you we rebuilt our military. We restored the arsenal of democracy and we are finally giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force the resources they need to defend this nation.

Mike Pence: (05:11)
I mean, I mentioned to you my son’s a Marine, but my unworthy son-in-law is a Navy pilot. He’s actually currently deployed, serving overseas. And I’ll tell you what, not just as your vice president, but having members of our armed forces and their spouses in my immediate family, I couldn’t be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who cares so deeply about the men and women of our armed forces and their families and our veterans. Under the president’s leadership, we’ve stood with those who serve. And we’ve stood with all of you who wore the uniform of the United States as never before. In fact, if you’re able, if you served in the armed forces of the United States, will the men and women in the room who served in our armed forces, will you mind just standing up or raising your hand so we can say thank you one more time? Thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Thank you for your service. We can never say thanks enough.

Mike Pence: (06:23)
It’s amazing to think when Joe Biden was vice president, America lived through years of scandal at the VA that literally shocked the conscience of the nation. We saw one story after another, literally tens of thousands of our veterans passed away waiting for the care that they had earned in the uniform of the United States. But when President Donald Trump came into office, we passed the Veterans Accountability Act, the most sweeping reforms of the VA in 50 years. We fired thousands of VA workers that were not providing the healthcare that our veterans deserve. And now Veterans Choice is available for every veteran in America.

Mike Pence: (07:16)
We didn’t just rebuild our military, support our vets, but ever since this president came into office, after years of that slow recovery out of the recession of 2008, in our first three years, it was jobs, jobs, jobs. Where Joe Biden wants to raise taxes, President Trump cut taxes across the board in our first three years. We rolled back more federal red tape than any administration in American history already. We unleashed American energy and fought for free and fair trade. And in just three short years, seven million jobs created all across America. Including 11,000 jobs right here in the Hawkeye State. And Iowa saw its lowest unemployment rate in more than 20 years. And it wasn’t just overall jobs in those first three years, it was that wages were rising. I got to tell you, the president and I couldn’t have been more proud that wages were rising across the board, the fastest rate in 10 years. But they were rising most rapidly for hard working blue collar Americans. The forgotten men and women of America were forgotten no more.

Mike Pence: (08:39)
When Joe Biden was vice president, America actually lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. And the last president said about this time four years ago, remember? He essentially told the American people those manufacturing jobs were never coming back. Right? Remember he asked that famous question, what magic wand do you have? Well, we didn’t need a magic wand. We just needed President Donald Trump in the White House. 500,000 manufacturing jobs created in just three years. I’m telling you. I’m telling you, I come from another I state. I’m from Indiana. It’s a whole lot like Iowa. We got a Hoosier in the room, that’s encouraging. I got to tell you, Iowa, like Indiana, you do two things really well. You make things and you grow things. And I want to promise you, you have a president who is a champion for the American people who make things. We’re going to fight to make manufacturing bigger and better than ever before in the next four years. And on the subject of-

Mike Pence: (10:03)
And on the subject of growing things in this great farming state, I don’t think I need to tell all of you, that President Trump has always put family farmers and ranchers first. In those tax cuts, we passed, we basically eliminated death taxes for virtually every family farm in America. Death is no longer a taxable event. We also allowed for the immediate expensing of equipment costs. Our farmers know those input costs are the biggest challenge in agriculture. It was this president who repealed the Biden and Obama era waters of the USA rule and restored private property rights for land owners, all across Iowa and all across America.

Mike Pence: (10:55)
And where past administration turned their backs on farmers, and especially ethanol producers, President Trump told the people of this great state that our administration would expand ethanol markets, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. Last year, the president went to Council Bluffs and announced that E15 is now available year round. That’s what we call promises made and promises kept.

Mike Pence: (11:26)
And can I tell all of you here? Can I tell all of you here at Carter Lake? None of that would have been possible without your president’s leadership, without the strong and tenacious support of Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Joni Ernst, we need Senator Joni Ernst back in the United States Senate for six more years.

Mike Pence: (11:52)
The progress that we made in rebuilding this economy, that’s also why we need David Young, Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Randy Feenstra, and from across the river in Nebraska, we need Congressman Don Bacon back in a new Republican majority. We need to retire Nancy Pelosi once and for all.

Mike Pence: (12:18)
So in those first three years, with great allies, just like those men and women, we stood strong for our national defense, with our veterans, for jobs, with our farmers, and our ranchers, and president Donald Trump has stood for the rule of law every single day. I’m proud to report to you as we stand here today in Iowa, this president has already seen confirmed more than 200 conservatives to our federal courts at every level, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And I can tell you, all of those jurors are men and women of integrity who will uphold all the God-given liberties enshrined in our constitution. Like the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, and the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Mike Pence: (13:29)
Now one week ago, as a nation, we paused to honor the life of service of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When the memorials were over, President Donald Trump did his duty, under the constitution of the United States, and last Saturday, he nominated a principled conservative woman of extraordinary character and extraordinary intellect who reveres the Constitution to the Supreme Court of the United States. He nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be the next justice on the Supreme Court.

Mike Pence: (14:13)
I had the privilege of escorting Judge Barrett to the United States Senate earlier this week. She’s in the process of making the rounds. Next week, we expect, in about a week or so, there’ll be a hearing on Capitol Hill and then there’ll be a vote. But I’ll tell you what, as members of the Senate and the Republican party, and I believe and hope, members in the democratic party, see her character, understand her intellect, see her deep commitment to the Constitution of the United States of America. After they provide advice and consent. I believe that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is going to be Justice amy Coney Barrett, we’re going to fill that seat on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mike Pence: (15:12)
So we’ve stood for the rule of law, strengthened the constitutional foundations in our country through the appointment of principled men and women to our courts, and President Donald Trump has stood every day with the men and women who serve on the thin blue line of law enforcement and we always will.

Mike Pence: (15:43)
I know that’s for them.

Mike Pence: (15:45)
Now, you all know what the president and I know, the men and women who serve in law enforcement across this country are some of the best people in America. My uncle was a cop in Chicago for 25 years. When we were young, we’d drive up from that small town in Indiana I grew up in and visit my grandparents’ house and when we’d see my uncle walk out wearing that uniform with a sidearm on. I just remember looking up at him and looking up to him. All of my heroes wear uniforms.

Mike Pence: (16:26)
And those who serve in law enforcement deserve the respect of every American every day.

Mike Pence: (16:39)
Now, president Trump and I will always support the constitutional right of Americans to peaceful protest, but rioting and looting, like you saw here in Iowa, Des Moines not long ago is not peaceful protest. Burning businesses is not free speech. Violence against innocent civilians or law enforcement will not be tolerated and those who do these things will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Mike Pence: (17:15)
Now for months, all Joe Biden ever talked about was peaceful protesters, remember? All summer long, as people in our major cities literally watched their streets and businesses burn. I mean, the truth is Joe Biden would double down on the very policies that have led to violence in America cities. When you erode support or signal a withdrawal of support from those who serve and protect, you only embolden those who would do harm to our families.

Mike Pence: (17:52)
Now, Joe Biden justifies all of it by saying that America is in his words, “Systemically racist.” He said that police have a quote, “Implicit bias against minorities.” When he was asked if he’d support cutting funding for law enforcement, Joe Biden replied, “Yes, absolutely.” Let me make you a promise, under President Donald Trump, we’re going to back the blue. We’re not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. President Trump and I know that we don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement and supporting our African-American neighbors and families and other minorities in our major cities. We have done both for the last four years, and we’re going to keep doing both for four more years.

Mike Pence: (18:59)
We’re going to support law enforcement with more resources for better training and accountability, and we’re going to continue to expand educational choice opportunities and job opportunities and safety for our African American families. We’re going to have law and order in every city, in every state in America for every American of every race and creed and color. So help us God. So we rebuilt our military, we revived our economy, we stood for all of our most cherished liberties in law and order. In three short years under this president’s leadership, we made America great again. It’s true. Our economy was booming, America was standing tall, our most cherished liberties more secure. Then the Coronavirus struck from China, but I’m here to …

Mike Pence: (20:03)
Coronavirus struck from China, but I’m here to report to you that before the first case of community transmission occurred anywhere in America, President Donald Trump did what no American president had ever done when he suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world.

Mike Pence: (20:19)
Now, Joe Biden said that was hysterical and xenophobic, but as the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, I can tell you firsthand President Trump’s action saved untold American lives, and it bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II. That’s true.

Mike Pence: (20:51)
In that time, we reinvented testing. We just cleared more than 100 million tests across this country, more than any other nation on Earth, and we just purchased 150 million new tests that are being distributed all across the nation, little 15-minute tests you can carry in your shirt pocket. We saw to the manufacturer working with industries just like this one to manufacture personal protective equipment and saw billions of supplies delivered to hospitals and nurses.

Mike Pence: (21:19)
I believe the American people can be proud that no American who ever required an ICU bed was ever denied an ICU bed and no American who required a ventilator was ever denied a ventilator anywhere in the United States.

Mike Pence: (21:40)
We’re continuing to meet this moment. New medicines are available, remdesivir, convalescent plasma. I can tell you, I heard it again when our task force met at the White House, we are on track to have the first coronavirus vaccine before the end of this year, and we will have tens of millions of doses for the American people. So we’re slowing the spread. We’re going to keep protecting the vulnerable. We’re going to keep saving lives, and we’re going to keep opening up America again. Having lost 22 million jobs at the height of this pandemic, I’m proud to report to you with a jobs report just around the corner tomorrow. But as of today, 10.6 million Americans have already gone back to work, including 97,000 people right here in the Hawkeye State.

Mike Pence: (22:43)
We’ve got a great American comeback underway. We’re not just opening up America. We’re opening up America’s schools and getting our kids back in the classroom. Those tests I just told you about, we’re distributing 100 million of those. We’re sending them out pro rata to every state in the country to make it possible for school nurses and school systems to get our kids back in the classroom and to keep them back in the classroom.

Mike Pence: (23:09)
It’s just extraordinary, and I’m proud to report to you that I’ve been married to a school teacher for 35 years. She’s already back in the classroom in a little Christian school just outside Washington.

Mike Pence: (23:24)
So we’ve gone through a time of testing, but I’m here in Iowa today because in 33 days, we’re coming to a time for choosing. The choice in this election has never been clearer. The stakes have never been higher. I mean, think about it. In the middle of a global pandemic, Joe Biden wants to raise taxes by $4 trillion. President Trump, we not only cut taxes across the board in our first three years, but we’re going to keep cutting taxes for four more years.

Mike Pence: (23:58)
Joe Biden wants to bury our economy under an avalanche of red tape. It seemed the other night that he didn’t even know that he endorsed the Green New Deal. Next day, he got off a train and said, “Green New Deal is a good plan, but our Green New Deal is a little different.” I’m telling you what. Both versions are job killers. I mean, you all understand the enormous cost on our economy that any one of those versions would impose. We’ve been cutting red tape, freeing up companies just like this one to create jobs and opportunity, and we’re going to keep cutting red tape for four more years. That’s how you bring the economy back.

Mike Pence: (24:43)
Joe Biden’s for open borders, sanctuary cities, free healthcare for illegal immigrants. President Donald Trump made record investments in border security. Mexico is now doing more to secure their southern border and ours than ever before, and we’ve already built 300 miles of that wall on the southern border of the United States. With four more years, we’re going to fix this broken immigration system once and for all.

Mike Pence: (25:14)
When it comes to trade, the contrast could not be more clear. Out here in the Heartland, we saw the impact, particularly in manufacturing that NAFTA had since 1995. There were entire communities in Indiana where auto plants were shuttered, thousands of people put out of work virtually overnight as jobs were shipped south of the border. In all his 47 years and ever since NAFTA was enacted, Joe Biden never lifted a finger to reform it or renegotiate it. But thanks to the man who wrote The Art of the Deal, America’s got a better deal than NAFTA. The United States, Mexico, Canada agreement is now the law of the land, and it’s a win for American manufacturing and a win for American farmers. If you didn’t know, I’m told nearly half of Iowa’s exports actually go to Canada and Mexico. So it’s a huge win for Iowa. It’s incredible. Experts estimate that we’re going to sell another $2 billion more in agricultural goods to Canada and Mexico, and that includes more than 300 million in dairy exports alone. It’s a huge win for the Heartland. It’s a huge win for farmers.

Mike Pence: (26:26)
So when it comes to jobs and trade, when we came into office, fully half of our international trade deficit was with one country, the People’s Republic of China. Communist China represented $500 billion of our annual trade deficit. Now, Joe Biden has been a cheerleader for communist China. He actually said it was a positive thing to see the rise of China, to see it admitted to the world Trade Organization. President Trump, he put China on notice from day one that the era of economic surrender is over.

Mike Pence: (27:04)
This president stood strong. We imposed tariffs on China. When China started to retaliate against American farmers, we made more than $15 billion in direct support available to farmers from what we were collecting in those tariffs. Now, believe it or not, Joe Biden actually wants to repeal all the tariffs that President Trump put into effect to level the playing field for American workers, but we’re not going to let it happen. With four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House, we’re going to stand strong with China until they open their markets and respect American jobs and American workers.

Mike Pence: (27:53)
I promise you, men and women, we’ve made incredible progress in security and in prosperity. But the choice that we face in this election is also about our most cherished values, and Joe Biden and the Democratic Party support abortion on demand. Joe Biden actually supports using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion, all the way up to the moment of birth. My part, I couldn’t be more proud to be Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history. That’s true.

Mike Pence: (28:48)
When you look at their agenda, when you look at their agenda, one thing is clear. Joe Biden would be nothing more than a Trojan horse for the radical left. Joe Biden said in his convention speech that democracy was on the ballot on November the 3rd. Well, I think our economic recovery is on the ballot. Law and order are on the ballot. But I also think there are things much more fundamental and foundational to our country. You heard Ben Carson reflect on it. You heard David Young reflect on it.

Mike Pence: (29:22)
I mean, I honestly would tell you I don’t think when the dust settles in this election it’s going to be whether America becomes more Republican or more Democrat, whether we’re more liberal or more conservative, more red or more blue. I think the choice in this election is whether America remains America, whether we’re going to continue to chart a course based upon freedom and our highest ideals and our most cherished liberties and values, whether we’re going to let Joe Biden and the Democratic Party and the radical left take us on a completely different-

Mike Pence: (30:03)
… Democratic Party and the radical left take us on a completely different path, to a place America has never been before. That’s why, men and women of Iowa, we’ve got to decide right here and right now that Joe Biden will never be president of the United States of America. We’re going to reelect President Donald Trump for four more years. It’s going to take all of us. And you all from Nebraska need to go to work too. You got to bring this enthusiasm. You got 33 days to go. I promise you, as I said at the top, we’re going to keep fighting every single day. I’m going to be in Salt Lake City next Wednesday night. We’re going to do our best to take our case one more time to the American people and take the fight to the Biden-Harris agenda.

Mike Pence: (31:07)
But we need you to go out and tell your neighbors and friends what four more years means. I mean, just tell them. Say, “I ran into Mike over at PBS, and he’s talking about everything that we’d done in the first three years, the president’s leadership through this challenging time, this great American comeback that’s underway. But he was just excited about what we could do with four more years. I mean, four more years means more jobs. Four more years means more judges. Four more years means more support for our troops.” And you tell him, I said, it’s going to take at least four more years to drain that swamp. Oh, we’ll drain it. Man.

Speaker 1: (31:58)
Four more years.

Mike Pence: (32:04)
I love her enthusiasm. Thank you for that. Thank you for being here today. I just encourage you to leave here today with renewed faith. Well, you turn on the television anymore and not that anything different the last three and a half years. With one network exception, it’s been ongoing negativity, ongoing criticism. Right? But this president has turned his face like flint against the wind every day. And I can tell you firsthand, my friend, your president has never stopped fighting to keep the promises he made to the people of Iowa and Nebraska. Now, it’s your turn to fight for him. It’s on.

Mike Pence: (32:55)
So, go tell your neighbors and friends at worship and at work all that we talked about here today. And tell him that the road to victory rolls right through Iowa, rolls right through Nebraska. And do your part to make sure and elect those great allies and reelect those great allies who made it possible for us to move our nation forward as we have in all these days. And, if you’re of a mind to bow the head and bend the knee from time to time, over the next 33 days, I encourage you to do that too.

Speaker 1: (33:26)
[inaudible 00:33:30].

Mike Pence: (33:28)
Because I love that ancient verse, ” If his people who are called by his name will humble themselves and pray,” he’ll do like he’s always done throughout much more challenging times in the life of our nation. The good book tells us words that we want to hear today. You’ll hear from heaven and he’ll heal this land, this one nation under God with Liberty and justice for all.

Mike Pence: (34:15)
So, thank you again. This has been great fun. I look forward to a quick hello before I slip away. I’m off to Des Moines and then back to Washington. But I leave here with renewed confidence. I really do. A pastor friend of mine said one time, “Everybody is under encouraged.” You’ve been an encouragement to me. And I can’t wait to tell the president about the enthusiasm I saw here at Carter Lake. And I just know, if you’ll carry this same enthusiasm all across Iowa and all across Nebraska in the next 33 days, if you work like it all depends on us, and you pray to him on whom it does depend, I know we’re going to make Iowa and Nebraska more prosperous than ever before. We’re going to make Iowa and Nebraska safer than ever before.

Mike Pence: (35:05)
And with David Young, Ashley Henson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Randy Feenstra, and Nebraska’s own Don Bacon, and a new Republican majority in the Congress, with Senator Joni Ernst in a renewed Republican majority in the United States Senate, with president Donald Trump in the White House for four more years, and with God’s grace, we’re going to make America great again, again. Thank you very much. God bless you and God bless America.