Remarks by the Vice President at a Campaign Event in Clarkston, Georgia

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good evening, Georgia! (Applause.) Good evening.

Can we please hear it for my friend, our 44th president, Barack Obama? (Applause.)

Oh, it's good to be back in Atlanta. (Laughs.)

All right. All right. So —

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I love you too. (Applause.) I love you too. (Laughs.)

So — so, you all may know it was over — it was 17 years ago — it was over 17 years ago when I took a trip to Springfield, Illinois. It was a cold February day, and I went there to support this brilliant young senator who was running for president of the United States. (Applause.) And millions of Americans were energized and inspired not only by Barack Obama's message but by how he leads, seeking to unite rather than separate us.

And that is why in 20- — '07, 2007, I went New Year's Eve to Iowa to knock on doors in the snow. And all these years later, Barack Obama, I say to you: Your friendship and your faith in me and in our campaign means the world. Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.) Thank you, Mr. President.

And we have some extraordinary leaders with us tonight, and I thank everybody who's here for taking time out of your busy lives to spend this evening together.

I want to thank Georgia's congressional delegation — (applause) — all the local and community leaders who are here with us. Let's please give it up for Samuel L. Jackson — (applause); Spike Lee — (applause); Tyler Perry — (applause); and the great American poet, Bruce Springsteen. (Applause.)

So, Atlanta, before I was vice president of the United States, before I was a United States senator, and before that, a two-term attorney general for the state of California, and before that, a district attorney and a courtroom prosecutor — and in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators, fraudsters, and repeat offenders. I took them on, and I won.

Well, Georgia, in 12 days, it's Donald Trump's turn. (Applause.) (Laughs.) It's his turn.

Just 12 days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. And I don't need to tell you, voting has already started. And everybody here knows it's going to be a tight race until the very end, so we have a lot of work ahead of us. But we like hard work. Hard work is good work. (Applause.) Hard work is joyful work. (Applause.)

And make no mistake, we will win. (Applause.) We will win. We will win.

AUDIENCE: We will win! We will win! We will win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Or as a certain former president would say, "Yes, we can." (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, we will, and, yes, we can. And here's — here's why we're going to win. We are going to win because we, together, are fighting for the future. (Applause.) We are fighting for the future. We here understand we have an opportunity before us to turn the page on the fear and divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade because of Donald Trump.

We have the opportunity to turn the page and chart a new way and a joyful way forward — (applause) — a way that taps into the ambitions, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people.

And I will tell you, as I travel our country, there is an overwhelming call for a fresh start, for a new generation of leadership that is optimistic and excited about what we can do together. There is a yearning for a president of the United States who will see you, who gets you, and who will fight for you. (Applause.)

And my whole career, I have put the people before partisanship. I never once asked somebody, "Are you a Democrat, or are you a Republican?" Instead, I always asked, "How can I help you?" (Applause.)

And that is a major difference between Donald Trump and me and between the two very different — extremely different visions that he and I have for our nation: one, his, focused on the past and himself; the other, ours, focused on the future and you.

Together, we will build a future where we bring down the cost of living, and that will be my focus every single day as president of the United States. (Applause.) Because, look, while inflation is down and wages are up, prices are still too high. You know it, and I know it.

And unlike Donald Trump, who had $400 million served to him on a silver platter and still minag- — managed to file for bankruptcy six times — he talks about being a good businessman. Come on. (Laughter.) Unlike him, I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with a working mother who kept a strict budget and did everything she could to make sure my sister and I had all that we needed. I come from the middle class, and I will never forget where I come from. (Applause.) I will never forget where I come from.

Which is why my commonsense plan will lower the prices you pay on everything from prescription drugs to groceries to housing. On the other hand, Donald Trump will raise costs on you and your families.

In fact, independent economists have analyzed our plans and found that mine will cut your costs and strengthen our economy; his will increase inflation and lead to a recession by the middle of next year. These are independent economists — Nobel laureate, prize-winning economists who have reviewed our plans and are very clear.

And his agenda is all laid out in Project 2025, a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what he will do if he is elected president.

And, look, Donald Trump intends to impose a 20 percent Trump national sales tax on everyday basic necessities —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — which will cost the average family nearly $4,000 a year.

On the other hand, I will take on price gouging — corporate price gouging. I've done it before, and I will do it again. (Applause.)

Donald Trump will give massive tax cuts to billionaires and the biggest corporations, exactly like he did the last time he was president.

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I will give middle-class tax cuts to 100 million Americans, including $6,000 during the first year of a child's life that will also lift — that will also lift America's children out of poverty. (Applause.)

Donald Trump will get rid of the $35 cap on insulin for seniors. He will cut Medicare and Social Security. In fact, economists have reported he will bankrupt Social Security in just six years.

My plan is a plan to support our seniors so that they can grow older with dignity and so their families — you — are not overwhelmed by the cost of home health care. (Applause.)

And on top of that, my plan will bring down the cost of housing, cut taxes for small businesses — where are the small businesses in the house? — (applause) — you are the backbone of America's economy, all of you — and we will lower health care costs because I believe health care should be a right and not just the privilege of those who can afford it. (Applause.)

Donald Trump, on the other hand, intends to end the Affordable Care Act — or, like we like to call it, Obamacare. (Applause.) And he wants to take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions.

Well, we are —

AUDIENCE: Not going back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — not going back. We are not going back.

AUDIENCE: We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We're not going back.

AUDIENCE: We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We're not going back. We're not going back. No, we are not, because we will move forward, and it is time to turn the page. (Applause.)

Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom — for freedom, like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do. (Applause.)

And we — we remember how we got here. Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended. And now, in America, one in three women lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban.

I don't need to tell the folks here: Except for Virginia, in every state in the South, including Georgia, there is a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions even for rape and incest.

And let me tell you, the idea that someone who survives a crime of a violation to their body would be told they don't have the authority to make a decision about what happens to their body next — that is immoral. It is immoral. It is immoral. (Applause.)

And everybody here knows, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do. (Applause.) Not the government. If she chooses, she will talk with her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her imam, but not the government, not some folks up in a state capitol telling her what to do with her own body.

And notice, Donald Trump still refuses to even acknowledge the pain and the suffering he has caused.

He insists that, quote, "everybody" wanted for Roe v. Wade to be overturned —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — which is just a further example of how out of touch the man is. Everybody wanted this? Women are being denied care during miscarriages, some only being treated once they develop sepsis. They didn't want this.

Couples just trying to grow their family have been cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. They didn't want this.

Women have died because of these bans, including a young mother of a six-year-old son right here in Georgia. Her family is here with us tonight, and we speak her name: Amber Nicole Thurman. (Applause.)

And you all have heard me say, look, I do believe Donald Trump to be an unserious man, and the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.

These are just some of the consequences of the Trump abortion bans and what he does and what he's likely to do.

And I pledge to you, when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. (Applause.) Proudly.

And across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on other hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights — fundamental freedoms and rights — like, Georgia knows, attacks on the freedom to vote, attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water, the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. (Applause.)

And as Atlanta knows well, generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom, and now the baton is in our hands. It is in our hands. (Applause.)

And so, I'd like to speak in particular to all the young leaders that I see here this evening. (Applause.) I see you. I see you. I see you. And to you, I say, you all have grabbed the baton. I've seen what you do, and I see how you are doing it, because you are rightly impatient for change.

You, who have only known the climate crisis, are leading the charge to protect our planet and our future. (Applause.)

You, young leaders who grew up with active-shooter drills, are fighting to keep our schools safe. (Applause.)

You, who know now fewer rights than your mothers and grandmothers, are standing up for reproductive freedom. (Applause.)

And I know it is because for you — I say to our young leaders — this is not theoretical, this is not political, this is your lived experience. And what I love about you is you are not waiting for other people to figure this out. (Applause.)

So, I see you, and I see your power. And I know so many of you are voting for the first time and know that our future is so good with you all at the helm. (Applause.) And I'm so proud of you.

Can we hear it for our young leaders and first-time voters? (Applause.)

So, listen, so much is on the line in this election, and this is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher, because over the last years — and, in particular, the last eight years — Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable, and more angry. You see it every day. He has become increasingly unhinged.

But last time, at least there were people around him who could control him. But do notice, in this election, they're not with him this time.

In fact, just this week, America heard from John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, who was Trump's White House chief of staff, who said that, as president, Trump praised Hitler — take a moment to think about what that means — that Trump said, quote, "Hitler did some good things" —

AUDIENCE: Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — and that Trump wished he had generals like Hitler's, who would be loyal to Trump and not to America's Constitution.

This is not 2016 and it is not 2020, including because just a few months ago, the United States Supreme Court told the former president that he is effectively immune no matter what he does in the White House.

Now, just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails — he who will claim unchecked and extreme power if he is reelected, who has vowed that he will be a dictator on day one, who calls Americans who disagree with him — I'm going to quote — "the enemy from within." You know what that harkens back to? He's calling Americans "the enemy within."

Who says that he would use the military to go after them. And he who has called for the, quote, "termination" of the Constitution of the United States.

Let us be very clear. Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States of America should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America. (Applause.) Never again. Never again.

AUDIENCE: We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, America, there is a huge contrast in this election. Just imagine — just imagine the Oval Office in three months. Picture it in your mind.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You're going to be there! (Applause.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It is either — so — but there's a choice that everybody has. So, let's imagine it for a moment.

It's either Donald Trump in there, stewing — stewing over his enemies list, or me — (applause) — working for you, checking off my to-do list.

You have the power to make that decision. It is your power. It is your power.

AUDIENCE: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, 12 — 12 days.

AUDIENCE: (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: All right. So — okay, we got work to do. We got work to do.

Okay. So, Georgia, listen, it all comes down to this. We are here together because we know what is at stake. We are here together because we love our country. We love our country. And I do believe it is one of the highest forms of patriotism to fight, then, for the ideals of our country and to fight to realize the promise of America. That's why we are here.

And as the great Congressman John Lewis reminded us, democracy is not a state; it is an act.

So, Georgia, now is our time to act. And together, we will win. We will win. (Applause.) We will win.

AUDIENCE: We will win! We will win! We will win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, Election Day —

AUDIENCE: We will win! We will win! We will win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, Election Day is in 12 days, okay? Twelve days. And early voting has already started.

So, Georgia, we need you to vote early. Please vote early. Go to IWillVote.com to get all the information you might need, because, folks, the election is here. It is here. It is upon us, and the choice is truly in your hands.

Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power. (Applause.)

So, Georgia, I ask you: Are you ready to make your voices heard? (Applause.)

Do we believe in freedom? (Applause.)

Do we believe in opportunity? (Applause.)

Do we believe in the promise of America? (Applause.)

And are we ready to fight for it? (Applause.)

And when we fight —

AUDIENCE: We win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: — we win.

God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)