Address Accepting the Vice Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois

Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Thank you.

Thank you, first of all, to Vice President Harris. Thanks for putting your trust in me, and for inviting me to be part of this incredible campaign.

And a thank you to President Joe Biden, for four years of strong, historic leadership.

It's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States. We're all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason: We love this country.

So thank you, to all of you here in Chicago, and all of you watching at home tonight. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your determination. And most of all, thank you for bringing the joy to this fight.

Now I grew up in Butte, Nebraska, a town of 400 people. I had 24 kids in my high school class. And none of them went to Yale.

But I'll tell you what. Growing up in a small town like that, you learn how to take care of each other. That family down the road, they may not think like you do, they may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do. But they're your neighbors. And you look out for them. And they look out for you. Everybody belongs. And everybody has a responsibility to contribute.

For me, it was serving in the Army National Guard. I joined up two days after my 17th birthday, and I proudly wore our nation's uniform for 24 years. My dad, a Korean War-era Army veteran, died of lung cancer a couple of years later. He left behind a mountain of medical debt. Thank god for Social Security survivor benefits.

And thank God for the G.I. Bill that allowed my dad and me to go to college. And millions of other Americans. Eventually, like the rest of my family, I fell in love with teaching. Three out of four of us married teachers. I wound up teaching social studies and coaching football at Mankato West High School. Go, Scarlets. We ran — we ran a 44 defense, we played through to the whistle on every single play, and we even won a state championship. Never close the yearbook, people.

But it was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them: a commitment to the common good, an understanding that we're all in this together, and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors. So there I was, a 40-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience and no money, running in a deep-red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public-school teacher. Never.

I represented my neighbors in Congress for 12 years. And I learned an awful lot. I learned how to work across the aisle on issues like growing the rural economies and taking care of veterans. And I learned how to compromise without compromising my values.

Then I came back to serve as governor, and we got right to work making a difference in our neighbors' lives. We cut taxes for the middle class. We passed paid family and medical leave. We invested in fighting crime and affordable housing. We cut the cost of prescription drugs and helped people escape the kind of medical debt that nearly sank my family. And we made sure that every kid in our state gets breakfast and lunch every day. So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours.

We also protected reproductive freedom, because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. And even if we wouldn't make those same choices for ourselves, we've got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. And that includes I.V.F. and fertility treatments. And this is personal for Gwen and I. If you've never experienced the hell that is infertility, I guarantee you, you know somebody who has. I can remember praying each night for a phone call. The pit in your stomach when the phone would ring, and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn't worked.

It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments. And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you. I'm letting you in on how we started a family because this is a big part about what this election is about. Freedom. When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor's office. Corporations — free to pollute your air and water. And banks — free to take advantage of customers.

But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids' freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall. Look, I know guns. I'm a veteran. I'm a hunter. And I was a better shot than most Republicans in Congress, and I've got the trophies to prove it. But I'm also a dad. I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also believe our first responsibility is to keep our kids safe.

That's what this is all about. The responsibility we have to our kids, to each other and to the future that we're building together, in which everyone is free to build the kind of life they want.

But not everyone has that same sense of responsibility. Some folks just don't understand what it takes to be a good neighbor. Take Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Their Project 2025 will make things much, much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives. They spend a lot of time pretending they know nothing about this. But look, I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this: When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they're going to use it.

And we know, if these guys get back in the White House, they'll start jacking up the costs on the middle class. They'll repeal the Affordable Care Act. They'll gut Social Security and Medicare. And they will ban abortion across this country, with or without Congress.

Here's the thing. It's an agenda nobody asked for. It's an agenda that serves nobody, except the richest and the most extreme amongst us. And it's an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in need.

Is it weird? Absolutely. Absolutely. But it's also wrong, and it's dangerous. It's not just me saying so, it's Trump's own people. They were with him for four years. They're warning us that the next four years will be much, much worse.

You know, when I was teaching, every year we'd elect a student body president. And you know what? Those teenagers could teach Donald Trump a hell of a lot about what a leader is. Leaders don't spend all day insulting people and blaming others. Leaders do the work.

So I don't know about you, I'm ready to turn the page on these guys. So, go ahead. Say it with me: We're not going back.

[Crowd chants: "We're not going back."]

We've got something better to offer the American people. It starts with our candidate, Kamala Harris. From her first day — as a prosecutor, as a district attorney, as an attorney general, as a United States senator, and then our vice president — she's fought on the side of the American people. She's taken on the predators and fraudsters. She's taken down the transnational gangs. And she's stood up to powerful corporate interests. She has never hesitated to reach across that aisle if it meant improving your lives. And she's always done it with energy, with passion and with joy.

Folks, we've got a chance to make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States. But I think we owe it to the American people to tell them exactly what she'd do as president before we ask them for their votes. So this is the part — clip and save it, and send it to your undecided relatives so they know: If you're a middle-class family, or trying to get into the middle class, Kamala Harris is going to cut your taxes. If you're getting squeezed by prescription drug prices, Kamala Harris is going to take on Big Pharma. If you're hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is going to help make it more affordable. And no matter who you are, Kamala Harris is going to stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead, because that's what we want for ourselves, and it's what we want for our neighbors.

You know, you might not know it, but I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this. But I have given a lot of pep talks. So let me finish with this, team. It's the fourth quarter. We're down a field goal. But we're on offense and we've got the ball. We're driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team. Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready. Our job, our job, our job, our job for everyone watching, is to get in the trenches and do the blocking and tackling. One inch at a time. One yard at a time. One phone call at a time. One door knock at a time. One $5 donation at a time.

Look, we've got 76 days. That's nothing. There'll be time to sleep when you're dead. We're going to leave it on the field. That's how we'll keep moving forward. That's how we'll turn the page on Donald Trump. That's how we'll build a country where workers come first, health care and housing are human rights, and the government stays the hell out of your bedroom.

That's how we make America a place where no child is left hungry. Where no community is left behind. Where nobody gets told they don't belong. That's how we're going to fight.

And as the next president of the United States always says, when we fight —

[Crowd chants: "We win!"]

When we fight —

[Crowd chants: "We win!"]

When we fight —

[Crowd chants: "We win!"]

Thank you. God bless.