Remarks at the Iowa Democratic Party's Wing Ding in Clear Lake, Iowa

Well, hello, good neighbors. It is great to be back here at the Wing Ding. Last time I had 20 minutes and this time I have 20 candidates. And I get to go first. And I gotta tell you this reminds me of my first time I was ever in the White House. Bill Clinton was president. I was a young prosecutor. I had done a lot of work on hate crimes. And he invited me to introduce him when he introduced that very important Matthew Shepard bill. And as I stood outside, I had never been in there before, and I've got the president on one side outside the East Room. I've got Janet Reno on the other, and the military band starts playing "Hail to the Chief." And I start walking in and all of a sudden I feel this big hand on my shoulder and this voice says, "I know you're going to do great out there. But when they play that song, I usually go first."

Well, that was my first time there in the White House, Iowa Democrats. But, it won't be my last. So I have spent the last few days on a 20-county tour and after the tragedies over the weekend it reinvigorated me as I stood in front of that barn with the flag. And I thought to myself, you know what? This flag is flying over El Paso today and it is flying over Dayton today. And that is because we are one America. We are one America. And there are not two sides. No, they're not when the other side is the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists. There is only one side and that is the American side. And I have had so many Iowans approach me about gun safety and about doing something about background checks and assault weapon bans and magazines. It's been unbelievable. And I told them all the story of when I sat across from the President after Parkland advocated for gun safety. Nine times he said he wanted universal background checks. And then the next day goes and meets with the NRA and he folds. As your president, I will not fold.

An economic agenda for this country should unite rural and urban. And that is why I have been out there talking about, yes, the Farm Bill, but also child care. We know the issues, and also about housing and education and hospitals and making sure that we have enough mental health beds when they're all only sixty-four in the state of Iowa. That is not acceptable. And I will end this practice of privatizing Medicaid. This is wrong in the state of Iowa.

It all starts here, this change because you Iowa you gave us a Granger movement that took on those big monopolies, right? You gave us Norman Borlaug, right? Norman Borlaug, who believed in science. You gave us Edna Grippon, who would not take no for an answer when she wanted to be served in Des Moines at the height of the civil rights movement. And yes, you gave us Abby and Cindy and Rita and JD that are changing this country. We have a guy in the White House now who is afraid. He is afraid of the future, right? He's afraid of the NRA. He's afraid of science. He's afraid of equal rights. We are not afraid of equal rights. We are not afraid of the future. We are not afraid of women having a seat at the table. He is afraid. He is afraid of a woman in the White House. We are not afraid of that. He is afraid of working people having the same rights and chances to succeed as wealthy people. We are not afraid. We embrace that right. That is what this is about. He is looking back and he is afraid. We are not. And especially not in this state. So I'm asking you to join me. Not with fear. I'm asking you to join me to build a future free of fear for the future. Let's go and get it done. Thank you, Iowa.