Biden, Harris greeted by chants of ‘Thank you, Joe’ at 1st joint event since he exited race
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held their first joint event since Biden exited the 2024 race and endorsed her to take his place atop the Democratic ticket.
The two walked out together to cheers to deliver remarks on stage at Prince George’s County Community College in Maryland about the economy and what their administration’s done to alleviate costs for Americans.
That includes the administration’s announcement earlier Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services reached an agreement on price negotiations for 10 commonly used drugs that they say will save Medicare enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs when the new prices go into effect in 2026.
“We know it is not just about health care, it is about your dignity,” Biden said. “It’s about peace of mind. It’s about security. It’s about taking care of your family. It’s about giving folks just a little bit more breathing room. That’s all. Look, I believe health care should be a right and not a privilege in America.”
Harris spoke first and took a moment to praise Biden for his work on the issue, as the crowd broke out into chants of “Thank you, Joe!”
“I could speak all afternoon about the person that I’m standing on the stage with,” she said. “Our extraordinary president, Joe Biden. And he’s going to speak in a minute, but there’s a lot of love in this room for our president. And I think it is for many, many reasons, including few leaders in our nation have done more on so many issues, including to expand access to affordable health care.”
When it was Biden’s turn, he returned the plaudits.
“Folks, I have an incredible partner,” he said. “The progress we have made. She’s going to make one hell of a president.”
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allows the government to directly broker with drug manufacturers for the first time in the history of the Medicare program. In addition to the 10 drugs negotiated for 2026, the government can select 15 more drugs for negotiation in 2027 and another 15 drugs for 2028 and up to 20 more drugs each year after.
Harris said she was “proud” to have casted the tie-breaking vote to get the law passed in the Senate.
“We believe deeply every senior in our nation should be able to live with security, stability, and dignity,” she said. “And so in the United States of America no senior should have to choose between either filling their prescription or paying their rent. That is the subject of today.”
While Harris is associating herself with Biden’s agenda to lower costs on Thursday, it comes one day before she is set to make campaign remarks in North Carolina about her own economic platform to deal with the rising cost of living, which will be her first major policy rollout since becoming the party’s nominee.
As Biden left the White House for Thursday’s event, he said he does not believe Harris will try to shift away from his economic policies when was asked by a reporter if he’d be bothered if she did so for political reasons.
“She’s not going to,” Biden responded.
Harris on Friday will propose a federal ban on corporate price-gouging on food and groceries, her campaign announced. She will also call for giving the Federal Trade Commission as well as state attorneys general the power to investigate and punish companies that violate the new rules.
“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know that price fluctuations are normal in free markets,” the campaign said in a press release. “But there’s a big difference between fair pricing in competitive markets, and excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business. Americans can see that difference in their grocery bills.”
Recently, Harris has also called for eliminating a tax on tips for service workers — a plan former President Donald Trump had introduced weeks ago. Her campaign also said her economic agenda will feature items to lower health care and housing costs.
Trump, in his own remarks delivered Wednesday that were also intended to focus on the economy, slammed the Biden-Harris administration record and briefly outlined his proposal to eliminate the tax on tips and taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors.
Trump’s criticisms often included falsehoods about the state of the economy and his own record, as he hit Biden and Harris over inflation.
“With four more years of Harris, your finances will never recover, they’re never going to recover. Our country will never recover, frankly, more importantly. It will be unrecoverable,” he claimed. “Vote Trump, and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to afford a home and we will bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow and Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — For much of the 2024 campaign, President Joe Biden could easily see himself taking the stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept the party’s nomination — a victory lap as he sought a second term in the White House.
But now, Biden’s prime-time speech in Chicago on Monday night will mark a bittersweet moment for his legacy and for the party.
It comes after a rapid shuffle catapulted Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket as Biden exited the race amid Democrats’ concerns about his age and ability to campaign reached a boiling point.
“This is extraordinary in a lot of ways in politics because sitting presidents don’t often turn over the reins,” said Jim Kessler, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way.
The scene will be a study in political contrasts, he says.
“In a way, it feels like a Hall of Fame athlete that’s making the tour to stadiums in the final season. But it’s also a torch passing and the Harris campaign is about the future,” Kessler said. “The needle I expect Biden will thread is celebrating the past and focusing on the future.”
Biden is slated to speak on the opening night of what will be a four-day gathering of prominent Democrats from across the nation culminating in Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz celebrating her history-making rise to become the party’s nominee.
Asked by a reporter on Sunday how he was feeling about his Monday night keynote, he responded, “Good, real good.”
The White House said last week Biden was looking forward to addressing not only Democrats but the nation about what’s at stake this election and to call for unity.
“He understands this is an incredibly important moment,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “He’s still very much the leader of the party, right? And he takes that very seriously. And he’s also very proud of his vice president.”
First lady Jill Biden, his strongest advocate, will speak before him, and afterward the couple heads to California, not planning to stay for Harris’ speech Thursday night.
Biden endorsed Harris minutes after he announced he would no longer run for reelection. At their first joint appearance since then, an event last Thursday to tout lower prescription drug prices, Biden said she would make “one hell of a president” as he was met by the crowd with chants of “Thank you, Joe!” — a rallying call that could very well emerge at the DNC.
But the road from his poor debate performance against Donald Trump in late June to his bowing out of the race was rocky, as he initially remained defiant against calls for him to step aside. With a growing drumbeat of Democratic lawmakers publicly urging him to drop out, private pressure from Democratic leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and polls showing the gap between he and Trump widening, Biden officially withdrew on July 21.
“All signs pointed to him wanting to have delivered that acceptance speech but the road was closed by funders, by the public, by the media, by key power brokers within the party, and so he’s having to switch up and it’s awkward,” said William Howell, an American politics professor at the University of Chicago.
Still, observers expect Biden to receive a resounding hero’s welcome at the convention.
“There will certainly be some callouts to his accomplishments, which aren’t trivial,” Howell said.
Biden is likely to tout some of his policy achievements, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which led to Medicare price negotiations and climate change investments; the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major piece of federal gun reform in decades; and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $550 billion in new spending for highways, bridges, public transit and more.
“He will paint himself as a unique president that served at a time when the nation needed someone who could stabilize the important institutions and who was able to get things done inside these institutions that are often strained because of partisanship,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston who focuses on the presidency.
“He has a record that would reelect an incumbent,” said Kessler. “What stood in the way was voters concerned about his age.”
Kessler added, “There’s a luxury to giving a speech when you don’t have to convince voters to vote for you. So there’s an aspect to his address on Monday that’s freeing.”
But much of Biden’s legacy may rest on what happens with the Democratic Party going forward, starting with Harris’ candidacy.
In an Oval Office address explaining his 2024 decision, Biden said that personal ambition couldn’t get in the way of saving democracy and that it was time to usher in the next generation.
“In 2024, he stepped aside so that she and the party could succeed. That magnanimous act is only complete if it’s fully successful,” Rottinghaus said. “Harris winning would be a legacy-defining moment for a president who said that he was going to be a bridge between the past and the future.”
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — At his first rally since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid, former President Donald Trump rallied his supporters against Vice President Kamala Harris, going after her record on immigration, health care, and the environment, painting her as an “ultra liberal” candidate.
“Just like crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris is unfit to lead. She’s unfit to lead, she’ll destroy our country in a year, this country will be destroyed,” Trump said at his rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
As Trump referenced Harris’ name dozens of times throughout his nearly 1.5-hour-long speech, he mispronounced her first name every single time.
Though Trump had previously called for unity in the wake of the attempt on his life by a gunman at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, two weeks ago, Trump put a nail in the coffin on his short-lived “nice” campaign.
“They’re very dangerous people — when you’re dealing with them, you can’t be so nice … If you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice. Is that OK?” Trump said about Biden and Harris, which was followed by the crowd cheering, “Fight, fight, fight.”
The former president took a victory lap about Biden’s dropout, accusing Democrats of pushing him out of office due to his low poll numbers.
“As you know, three days ago, we officially defeated the worst president in the history of our country, Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump said. “So now we have a new victim to defeat. Lyin’ Kamala Harris — Lyin’, apostrophe — the most incompetent and far left vice president in American history.”
Trump’s rally comes as Harris attacked him and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, on Tuesday, at her first presidential campaign event in battleground Wisconsin, on the issue of abortion and Project 2025, the conservative presidential transition blueprint fronted by the Heritage Foundation.
“We’ll stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have the government tell them what to do,” Harris said to raucous applause. “And when Congress passes the law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.”
In Biden’s address to the nation on Wednesday about his decision to exit the race, the president said, “There’s a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices and yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.”
The president did not address ongoing Republican criticisms about his fitness to serve.
Throughout Trump’s speech, he attempted to flesh out numerous attacks on Harris, specifically focusing on her handling of immigration issues, which he argued should disqualify her from running for the nation’s highest office.
“Kamala’s deadly destruction of America’s borders is completely and totally disqualifying. She shouldn’t even be allowed to run for president what she’s done,” accused Trump.
In March of 2021, Biden appointed Harris to oversee, lead, and coordinate diplomatic talks with Northern Triangle countries to address the root causes of migration. Republicans quickly labeled that assignment as the “border czar,” though Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is in charge of border oversight.
So far on the campaign trail, Harris has focused on going after Trump’s record concerning reproductive rights, directly blaming him for the rollback of abortion access for women. Trump attempted to respond to that argument by labeling Harris as a radical on abortion, pushing unfounded claims that she supports late-term abortions.
And as the Harris campaign paints the election as one between a prosecutor and felon, Trump on Wednesday called her “one of the worst prosecutors” who “destroyed San Francisco.”
“Their campaign says, ‘I’m the prosecutor and he is the convicted felon.’ That’s their campaign. I don’t think people are gonna buy it,” Trump said, touting he won the Florida classified documents case.
Going through her record as California attorney general, Trump criticized her past support for bail reform which he argued made her soft on crime. Hailing from California, Trump typecasted Harris as an extreme liberal, highlighting her support for the Green New Deal and a ban on fracking.
The Harris campaign declared that Trump’s attacks on Harris signaled his message of unity following his assassination attempt.
“Unity is over for Donald Trump — he is back with an unhinged, weird, and rambling speech,” Harris for President spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “But the American people won’t be fooled or distracted.”
(CHICAGO) — Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, closing out four days of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Harris delivered remarks to the crowd of delegates and party members at the United Center Thursday, highlighting the night’s “For the Future” theme and voicing her vision for America’s next presidential administration.
The presidential hopeful delivered a message of unity as Democrats look to appeal to independent voters and bring the nation together after the election in November.
“I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power.”
Throughout her nearly hour-long long remarks, Harris took aim at former President Donald Trump and presented her top policies for a Harris-Walz White House.
Read Harris’ full remarks at the DNC below.
To my husband, Doug, thank you for being an incredible partner to me and father to Cole and Ella. And happy anniversary. I love you so very much.
To Joe Biden — Mr. President. When I think about the path we have traveled together, I am filled with gratitude. Your record is extraordinary, as history will show. And your character is inspiring. Doug and I love you and Jill. And I am forever thankful to you both.
And to Coach Tim Walz, you are going to be an incredible Vice President. And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign — your support is humbling.
America, the path that led me here in recent weeks, was no doubt… unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys.
My mother Shyamala Harris had one of her own. I miss her every day, especially now and I know she’s looking down tonight and smiling. My mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer. When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage. But, as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris — a student from Jamaica — they fell in love and got married.
And that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me. Growing up, we moved a lot. I will always remember that big Mayflower truck, packed with all our belongings. Ready to go to Illinois, to Wisconsin and wherever our parents’ jobs took us. My early memories of my parents together are joyful ones.
A home filled with laughter and music Aretha, Coltrane and Miles.
At the park, my mother would tell us to stay close, but my father would just smile, and say, “Run, Kamala Run” “Don’t be afraid” “Don’t let anything stop you.” From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless. But the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up and it was mostly my mother who raised us. Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay. In the Bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands. We, lived in the flats. A beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers — all who tended their lawns with pride.
My mother worked long hours. And, like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us. Mrs. Shelton, who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother. Uncle Sherman, Aunt Mary, Uncle Freddy and Auntie Chris. None of them family by blood. And all of them family by love. Family who taught us How to make gumbo. How to play chess. And sometimes even let us win. Family who loved us. Believed in us. And told us we could be anything. Do anything.
They instilled in us the values they personified, community, faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated.
With kindness. Respect. And compassion. My mother, was a brilliant, five-foot-tall, brown woman with an accent. And, as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But she never lost her cool. She was tough. Courageous.
A trailblazer in the fight for women’s health. And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night — She taught us to never complain about injustice.
But…do something about it. She Also taught us— Never do anything half-assed. That’s a direct quote.
I grew up immersed in the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering. And they made sure we learned about civil rights leaders, including lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley. Those who battled in the courtroom to make real the Promise of America. So, at a young age, I decided I wanted to do that work.
I wanted to be a lawyer. And when it came time to choose – the type, of law I would pursue – I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life. When I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda. – She was sad at school. – And there were times she didn’t want to go home. So, one day, I asked if everything was alright. And she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her step-father.
And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us. And she did. That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda. Because I believe everyone has a right: -To safety. -To dignity. -And to justice.
As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim. But in the name of. “The People.” For a simple reason. In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. I would often explain this, to console survivors of crime. To remind them: -No one should be made to fight alone. -We are all in this together. Every day in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the People.”
And to be clear: My entire career, I have only had one client. The People. And so, on behalf of The People, On behalf of every American. Regardless of party. Race. Gender. Or the language your grandmother speaks. On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey. On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with.
People who work hard. Chase their dreams. And look out for one another. On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth. I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America. With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past -the bitterness, -cynicism, -and divisive battles of the past.
A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of any one party or faction. But as Americans. I know there are people of various political views watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a President for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country aboVe party and self. To hold sacred America’s fundamental principles. From the rule of law. To free and fair elections.
To the peaceful transfer of power. I will be a President who unites us around our highest aspirations. A President who leads. And listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work. – As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them. – As Attorney General of California, I took on the Big Banks. – Delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure. And helped pass a Homeowner Bill of Rights— one of the first of its kind. I stood up: – For veterans and students being scammed by Big for-Profit colleges. – For workers who were being cheated out of the wages they were due. – For seniors facing elder abuse. I fought against cartels who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings. Who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities. Those fights were not easy. And neither were the elections that put me in those offices.
We were underestimated at every turn. But we never gave up. Because the future is always worth fighting for. And that’s the fight we are in right now. A fight for America’s future. Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one of the most important in the life of our nation. In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man.
But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious. Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames. And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans.
And separately, found liable for committing sexual abuse. And consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol. His explicit intent to jail journalists. Political opponents. Anyone he sees as the enemy. His explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.
Consider the power he will have— especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution. Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.
How he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States. Not to improve your life. Not to strengthen our national security. But to serve the only client he has ever had: Himself. And we know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in “Project 2025.” Written by his closest advisors. And its sum total is to pull, our country back into the past. But America, we are not going back. We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare. We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.
When insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions. We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools. We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and child care. America, we are not going back. We are charting. A. New. Way. Forward. Forward—to a future with a strong and growing middle class. Because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. This is personal for me. The middle class is where I come from. My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means. Yet, we wanted for little. And she expected us to Make the most of the opportunities that were available to us. And to be grateful for them. Because opportunity is not available to everyone.
That’s why we will create what I call an Opportunity economy. An Opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed. Whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city. As President, I will bring together: – Labor and workers, – Small business owners and entrepreneurs, – And American companies. To create jobs. Grow our economy. And lower the cost of everyday needs. Like health care. Housing. And groceries. We will: – Provide access to capital for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders. – We will end America’s housing shortage. – And protect Social Security and Medicare. Compare that to Donald Trump. He doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. He will give them another round of tax breaks, that will add 5 trillion dollars to the national debt.
All while— he intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax —call it, a Trump tax— that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost 4 thousand dollars a year. Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans. Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives. Especially on matters of heart and home. But tonight, too many women in America are not able to make those decisions. Let’s be clear about how we got here.
Donald Trump hand-picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom. And now he brags about it. His words: Quote – “I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” End quote. Over the past two years, I have traveled across our country. And women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of: – Women miscarrying in a parking lot… – Getting sepsis… – Losing the ability to ever have children again… – All—because doctors are afraid of going to jail for caring for their patients. – Couples just trying to grow their family… cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. – Children who have survived sexual assault, potentially forced to carry the pregnancy to term. This is what is happening in our country. Because of Donald Trump. And understand, — he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would: – Limit access to birth control, – Ban medication abortion, – And enact a nation-wide abortion ban with or without Congress. -And. Get this, he plans to create a National. Anti-Abortion. Coordinator. And force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.
Simply put. They are. Out. Of. Their. Minds. And one must ask: Why exactly is it that they don’t trust women? Well. We. trust. women. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as President of the United States, I. Will. Proudly. Sign. It. Into. Law. In this election, Many other fundamental freedoms are at stake. -The freedom to live safe from gun violence— in our schools, communities, and places of worship. -The freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. -The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. -And the freedom that unlocks all the others. The freedom to vote. With this election, We finally have the opportunity To pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. And let me be clear. After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border. Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign.
So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security. Here is my pledge to you: As President, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law. I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants— And reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship— And secure our border. America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and our values abroad. As Vice President, I have: – Confronted threats to our security, – Negotiated with foreign leaders, – Strengthened our alliances, – And engaged with our brave troops overseas. As Commander-in-Chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families.
And I will always honor, and never disparage, their service and their sacrifice. I will make sure that: – we lead the world into the future on space and Artificial Intelligence. – that America—not China— wins The competition for the 21st century. – And that we strengthen—not abdicate— our global leadership. Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies. Said Russia could—quote— “do whatever the hell they want.” Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade.
I helped mobilize a global response— over 50 countries—to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies. With respect to the war in Gaza. President Biden and I are working around the clock. Because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done. Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival. At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again.
The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war such that – Israel is secure – the hostages are released – the suffering in Gaza ends – and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity. Security. Freedom. And self-determination. And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. And I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim-Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump. Because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.
They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable— because he wants to be an autocrat. As President, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand— and where the United States of America belongs. Fellow Americans, I love our country with all my heart. Everywhere I go —in everyone I meet— I see a nation ready to move forward. Ready for the next step, in the incredible journey that is America. I see an America where we hold fast to the fearless belief that built our nation.
That inspired the world. That here, in this country, anything is possible. Nothing is out of reach. An America, where we care for one another, look out for one another, and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that, in unity, there is strength. Our opponents in this race are out there, every day, denigrating America. Talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach. Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are. America, Let us show each other— and the world— who we are. And what we stand for. Freedom.
Opportunity. Compassion. Dignity. Fairness. And endless possibilities. We are the heirs to the greatest democracy, in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and grandchildren, and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done.
Guided by optimism and faith, To fight for this country we love. To fight for the ideals we cherish. And to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American. So, let’s get out there and let’s fight for it. Let’s get out there And let’s vote for it. And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told. Thank you. God bless you. May God bless the United States of America.