Transcript - Remarks: Joe Biden Speaks at a Political Event in Pittsburgh, PA - November 2, 2020 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:50 ()

Hello Pittsburgh. It's good to be back. I'll tell you what, first off, let's honk for the outstanding band, the Funky Fly Project. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And special thanks to local and state elected officials who were here. I want to thank them a lot. And I want to also thank your police department. I'll tell you what, they got one heck of a motorcycle escort.

Joe Biden

00:00:50 - 00:01:29 ()

You know, it's great seeing Franco again. I -- I lived on the other side of the state just below that town called Philadelphia and I get in trouble because I talk about how much I like Pittsburgh and how much I like the Steelers. Now, let me tell you why. Franco and I were just in Latrobe together last month and Franco and his teammate a guy named Rocky Bleier back in the day when my -- the Rooney's were really wonderful to me and my family because just a month after I was elected to the United States Senate, I was 29 years old.

Joe Biden

00:01:29 - 00:01:57 ()

It was December 18th and it was a week before Christmas. I got a phone call when I was hiring staff in Washington saying a tractor trailer had broadsided my wife and my three children Christmas shopping and killed my wife -- and killed my wife and killed my daughter. My two boys were very badly injured, so I hustled home as quickly as I could and -- and I stayed with them in that hospital room because they weren't really tough shape.

Joe Biden

00:01:57 - 00:02:20 ()

But on the 23rd, I believe it was, I decided that I was going to go out to Kmart and get a plastic Christmas tree, you know, those kind they have on display because we weren't allowed to have any Christmas paraphernalia in the hospital that could catch fire but I could get one of those. So I went out and I was only gone -- it was the only time I was gone.

Joe Biden

00:02:20 - 00:02:40 ()

I was gone for about I guess an hour, an hour and a half, and I came back and both of my boys for the first time, they were little guys. Three and four years old, almost four and five. They had smiles on their face. And each of them were holding a football signed by the entire Steel Curtain of Pittsburgh.

Joe Biden

00:02:40 - 00:03:04 ()

The Pittsburgh team. And I said what happened, boys? And they were -- it was the first time they smiled and they said Rocky Bleier and Franco Harris came because, guess what happened? The Rooney's, really fine, fine people, the Rooney's decided that they were going to send Rocky and Franco to see my boys.

Joe Biden

00:03:04 - 00:03:32 ()

No publicity. They didn't do any press. Didn't let anybody know. They spent 45 minutes with my boys. They got in a plane and went home. That's who we are as a country. That's something the president doesn't understand. Looking out for each other. A thousand acts of kindness, the decency that people used to show to one another and still do that he just doesn't get.

Joe Biden

00:03:32 - 00:04:03 ()

Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh, there's one more day. One more day to show who we are once again. Tomorrow, we can end the presidency that has divided this nation. Folks at home would know tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect the nation. Tomorrow, we can put an end to a presidency that has fanned the flames of hate across this nation, pouring gasoline on every racial incident in the country.

Joe Biden

00:04:03 - 00:04:29 ()

Millions of Americans have already voted. Over almost 100 million now. Millions more will vote tomorrow. My message is simple. The power to change this country is in your hands. And I don't care how hard Donald Trump tries, there is nothing -- nothing he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting, no matter how he tries.

Joe Biden

00:04:29 - 00:04:57 ()

There's a press article last week and it read as follows. Never before in modern presidential history has a candidate been so reliant on widescale efforts to repress the vote as Trump. Trump doesn't want y'all voting. He doesn't want Americans voting. He thinks only wealthy folks should vote. And when America votes though, America will be heard.

Joe Biden

00:04:57 - 00:05:22 ()

When America is heard, the message is going to be out loud and clear. It's time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home. Go home. Look, we're done with the chaos. We're done with the racism. We're done with the tweets, the hang anger, the hate, the anger, the irresponsibility. But we've got a lot of work to do, folks.

Joe Biden

00:05:22 - 00:05:44 ()

If I'm elected president, we're going to act. On day one, we're going to act to get COVID under control. On day one of my presidency, output an action in plan that I've been talking about for months. Masking, social distancing, testing, tracing. A plan for full and fair and free distribution of therapeutics and vaccines when we get one.

Joe Biden

00:05:44 - 00:06:11 ()

And most importantly, what he hasn't done yet, a plan. A plan that addresses the fact that we can get everybody access to the vaccine when it comes. Folks, there's over 300 million people in America. Everyone, everyone is going to get help. A plan to address the disproportionate way the virus is hitting the black community and minority communities.

Joe Biden

00:06:11 - 00:06:41 ()

We're seeing race based disparities all across every aspect of this virus. Higher infection rates, lower access to testing, a harder time, quarantine safe -- quarantine safely, lower access to quality treatment when you become infected and, tragically, higher mortality rates. Three times as high as the white population. 1 in 1000 black Americans have died from COVID so far.

Joe Biden

00:06:41 - 00:07:10 ()

And by the end of this pandemic, if things continue as he's allowing them to do until the next president takes office, there will be another 200,000 deaths predicted. And that will mean one in 500 African Americans will have died because of COVID. That is absolutely outrageous. That is an attack of mass casualty for black Americans.

Joe Biden

00:07:10 - 00:07:34 ()

And this president, he knew in January how bad this virus was. In January, he knew it. Some of you may remember vaguely of turning on the television at the time. I wasn't in office, but I was talking about the fact that he got intelligence briefings laying out how dangerous it was coming from China and where it was happening and he said no, he didn't read his intelligence briefing in the morning.

Joe Biden

00:07:34 - 00:08:00 ()

Well, that didn't surprise me. He doesn't read. [Laughter] But it turns out he knew exactly how dangerous it was. Remember what he said to Bob Woodward, the famous journalist? He went on tape and he said to Woodward he knew in January how dangerous it was. And how many people can die and he said nothing.

Joe Biden

00:08:00 - 00:08:42 ()

He didn't say a thing to you, me, or anybody else. He kept it secret. He hid it from the American people. He knew it was worse than the flu. He lied to the American people. He knew it wasn't going to disappear. He kept telling us a miracle was coming or maybe we should inject bleach into our veins. I mean, whatever -- God, what a -- anyway. [Laughter] And just Friday, this past Friday, he had the gall to suggest that the American doctors and nurses who are literally risking their lives to save lives on the frontline of this crisis for nine months that he suggested that these folks, you know what he says they're doing?

Joe Biden

00:08:42 - 00:09:09 ()

He said doctors are falsely inflating the deaths due to COVID because they want to make more money. No, think about that. The president of the United States of America. But then again, it doesn't surprise me he wouldn't do anything unless he could make more money. Not a joke. Everything to him is about how do you help yourself.

Joe Biden

00:09:09 - 00:09:32 ()

Folks, look. The people of this nation have suffered and sacrificed for nine months. None more so than our doctors and our frontline health care workers. And it's the president questioning their character and their integrity and their commitment to his fellow Americans. The president questioning that. It's a flat disgrace.

Joe Biden

00:09:32 - 00:10:06 ()

And then last night, trump said he's going to fire Dr. Fauci. I've got a better idea. Let's fire Trump and I'll hire Dr. Fauci. Look, the president has waved the white flag of surrender to this virus. I'll never do that. His chief of staff said last week we're not going to control this virus. We are not going to control the virus.

Joe Biden

00:10:06 - 00:10:43 ()

The first step to beating the virus is defeating Donald Trump. Look, folks, if you know -- if we didn't know this was happening and I -- somebody made a movie about this five years ago, you'd think it was all crazy. But it's real. It's real what's happening. Donald Trump, by the way, keeps telling us what a great job as the president he has been, how many jobs he's created.

Joe Biden

00:10:43 - 00:11:09 ()

Well, I would just with President Obama in Detroit and Flint, Michigan, my buddy. It was great to be with a president with real character, a president respected around the world, a president our kids could look up to. But did you know President Obama and I helped create more jobs in the last three years of our administration that Trump did in the first three years of his, even before the pandemic hit?

Joe Biden

00:11:09 - 00:11:33 ()

Did you know Donald Trump is going to be the first president in 90 years who's going to finish with -- his four years in office with fewer jobs under his leadership than when he started as president? And black unemployment remains too high. Too many black businesses are shuttered for good. Black owned businesses are shutting down twice as fast as other businesses.

Joe Biden

00:11:33 - 00:11:56 ()

And business communities of color have shuttered because they didn't get the help, the money that Congress had passed. Congress passed over $2 trillion. You know the first thing that the president did? He fired the inspector general who was supposed to follow where the money went. And guess what? Minority businesses, small businesses, they didn't get the help.

Joe Biden

00:11:56 - 00:12:21 ()

It went to the Mar-a-Lago crowd, not a joke, his wealthy friends. And he fired the inspector general. You know, he sees the world from Park Avenue. I see it from Scranton. I see it from where I grew up. I see it from here in Pittsburgh. Wall Street didn't build this country. Working people built this country.

Joe Biden

00:12:21 - 00:12:50 ()

That's always who's built the country, the middle class. And unions built the middle class. Folks, I believe we should be rewarding work, not wealth in this country. Do you all realize that just as the pandemic started the list of billionaires in America made another $300 million? Not a joke, $300 million they made in the middle of the pandemic.

Joe Biden

00:12:50 - 00:13:15 ()

What's going on here, folks? Well, I got a plan. And under my plan, I commit to you no one making less than $400,000 a year is going to see their -- a penny in taxes raised, but for a change the wealthiest and the biggest corporations -- 91 of the Fortune 500 companies paid zero in taxes after making billions of dollars.

Joe Biden

00:13:15 - 00:13:44 ()

Well, guess what? Under a Biden administration, they're going to start paying their fair share. Why should a firefighter, an educator, a nurse, a steelworker pay a higher tax rate -- and this is the God's truth, a higher tax rate than the super wealthy? And by the way, what she's you pay more taxes than Donald Trump?

Joe Biden

00:13:44 - 00:14:05 ()

I've released 23 years of my tax returns. I had the dubious distinction of being listed as the poorest man in Congress for 36 years. And then when I got elected vice president, it's said it's probable no man has never assumed office as vice president with fewer assets than Joe Biden. I assume they weren't speaking about intellectual assets.

Joe Biden

00:14:05 - 00:14:42 ()

They could've been, but who knows? But look, here's my point. Trump, in the only taxes that we've been able to find out through the New York Times, the one year he has, he paid $750 in taxes. Trump keeps talking about corruption. When's the last time you heard of a president having a secret bank account in China, which he did, we just found out, where he paid 50 times more tax in China that he did in the United States?

Joe Biden

00:14:42 - 00:15:08 ()

Every time he starts talking about corruption, I say release your tax return. What in the hell you hiding? What are you hiding? Not one -- anyway, I won't to get into it. Look, we're going to act to protect healthcare. Trump and the Republicans just jam through a Supreme Court nomination. You know why they did, to try to store the Affordable Care Act.

Joe Biden

00:15:08 - 00:15:39 ()

Well, if they get their way, 100 million Americans will lose the protections for pre-existing conditions, including more than 5 million people here in the United States -- I mean, excuse me, here in the state of Pennsylvania, over 100 million in the United States. Millions of black Americans will be left uninsured and denied health coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and there are more pre-existing conditions in poorer communities than there are in others.

Joe Biden

00:15:39 - 00:16:10 ()

Donald Trump thinks healthcare is a privilege. I think it's a right. Look, I'll not only restore Obamacare, I'll build on it. You can keep your private insurance if you like it. You can choose Medicare-like public option. I'm going to increase subsidies to lower your premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses, out-of-pocket spending, surprised billing, and to lower prescription drugs by 60 percent.

Joe Biden

00:16:10 - 00:16:39 ()

And that's the truth. But by the way, how are you going to do it, Joe? Because those wealthy people are going to start paying their fair share. It's not about punishing everyone. It's about being fair. We'll make sure the protections for people with pre-existing conditions remain. And meanwhile, Trump said -- publicly said, if he's reelected, he's going to defund Social Security payments.

Joe Biden

00:16:39 - 00:17:06 ()

The actuary at the Social Security department said if he does that, that will eliminate, eliminate Medicare by 2023 after all the people who rely on Medicare. It's not gonna happen, by the way. We're not going to let it happen. But that's his plan. So, go home and tell your grandparents and parents will protect Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, which he won't do.

Joe Biden

00:17:06 - 00:17:39 ()

And finally, vote to deliver some -- we need a vote now to deliver some racial justice in America. Look, a season of protest has broken out all across this nation. Protesting is not burning and looting and violence. That can't be tolerated and won't. But those protests are a cry for justice in the name of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, Walter Wallace Junior.

Joe Biden

00:17:39 - 00:17:59 ()

They are not going to soon be forgotten. They're not going to be forgotten by me, not by us, not by this country. They'll inspire a whole new wave of justice in America. When I met with -- when I met with Floyd's family, he has a little daughter who survived him. She's six years old. And I knelt down and I talked to her.

Joe Biden

00:17:59 - 00:18:28 ()

I said I -- I started to talk to her. You know what she said? She looked at me and said Mr. Vice President, Daddy changed -- is going to change the world. Daddy is going to change the world. Folks, the country is ready. The country is ready -- But not with Donald Trump as president. Now he wants us to believe so much he's done for black Americans.

Joe Biden

00:18:28 - 00:18:55 ()

You might have seen the debate I had with him. I was standing next Abraham Lincoln. He said not since Abraham Lincoln has anyone done as much for the African American community as I have. I turned to him and asked him Abe, he got offended. He got offended. Look, Pittsburgh, honk if you think his commitment of having done more for the African American community that Abraham Lincoln is true.

Joe Biden

00:18:55 - 00:19:22 ()

Honk your horn. Silence. You got it, man. Pittsburgh, honk you think of as a bunch of malarkey and he's lying? [Audience honks car horns] You've got it. Look, the truth is Donald Trump has done more to harm black America than any president in modern history. This is the same man who started the birther movement against my body, Barack Obama.

Joe Biden

00:19:22 - 00:19:38 ()

This is the first man -- this is the man who when -- the first black woman running for vice president, he looks at her and he calls her monster. Oh, yeah, man. And remember on stage with him when I asked about the Proud Boys, that racist group of white supremacists? He said -- I said will you deny them?

Joe Biden

00:19:38 - 00:20:13 ()

He turned and he said I'm going to tell them to stand down and stand by. When in God's name did you ever expect an American president to say -- who refused to denounce white supremacy, doesn't believe systemic racism is a problem, and won't even say black lives matter? Black lives matter. And we're going to work to deliver real police and criminal reform, justice reform.

Joe Biden

00:20:13 - 00:20:39 ()

We know, we know what true justice is all about. It's not only about a system -- criminal justice system that's fair, but it's about being able to build wealth, jobs, homes, families. Folks, we're in a situation where -- think about it. How many people you know are working two jobs and still being in poverty?

Joe Biden

00:20:39 - 00:21:21 ()

We need a national minimum wage of $15 an hour for everybody, period. Honk if you agree with me. [Audience honks car horns] Honk if you agree with me, my proposal for first-term homebuyers-first-time homebuyers I promise you are going to get a $15,000 down payment for the first home. [Audience honks car horns] Honk. [Audience honks car horns] For a new capital to start businesses because black entrepreneurs are equally as successful as any other entrepreneurs but they can't get access.

Joe Biden

00:21:21 - 00:21:51 ()

That's why Barack and I started a program to give $1.5 million in local small business associations to lend money. That brought $30 billion off the sideline. Well, I changed that to $15 billion and we're going to bring $150 off the sideline. Look, in addition to that -- think of this, education -- education is the key to movement.

Joe Biden

00:21:51 - 00:22:14 ()

Well, guess what? There are going to be free college education for state universities when I'm your president. I'm going to triple funding. By the way, we can afford this, I promise you. I'm going to triple funding for Title 1 schools so a child can get a good public education no matter what their zip code is.

Joe Biden

00:22:14 - 00:22:37 ()

Allowing every three-, four-, five-year-old to go to school not daycare. That increases by 58 percent the prospects that child will go all the way through 12 years. And honk if you agree with me I'm going to invest $70 billion in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. [Audience honks car horns] For real.

Joe Biden

00:22:37 - 00:23:10 ()

Did you -- institutions so future generations of black students can continue to get the very best education. Folks, Pennsylvania 2008, 2012 you placed your trust in Barack and me. Now in 2020 I'm asking for your trust again in me and Kamala. By the way, she is one smart, bright, tough woman man. [Audience honks car horns] I'm so proud she said yes.

Joe Biden

00:23:10 - 00:23:48 ()

Look, I'm running as a proud Democrat -- but, I will govern as an American president. That's the job of a president, the duty to represent everyone -- everyone. And you too have a duty. If you haven't already voted, vote tomorrow, make a plan, get out the vote. Go to Iowavote.com/PA and ask yourself if Donald Trump is so proud of his record especially for African Americans why does he make it so hard for us to vote?

Joe Biden

00:23:48 - 00:24:02 ()

And then remember the final words of my good friend and American Hero John Lewis who recently died. He said the vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it cause if not, guaranteed you'll lose it. Folks, please, please here is the amazing thing -- here is the amazing thing, folks it's about this moment in history.

Joe Biden

00:24:02 - 00:24:13 ()

On one hand we're facing the biggest threat on who we are and what we believe and we see in our lifetime. But on the other hand, our future has never been more promising. I've said it many times -- I'm more optimistic about America's future today than I was when I got elected as a 29-year-old kid and I mean it.

Joe Biden

00:24:13 - 00:24:27 ()

Here's why -- we're better positioned than any nation in the world to lead the 21st century. Our workers are three times as productive as workers -- biggest economies in the world -- we have the strongest military in the history of the world, we have the most innovative entrepreneurs. We're virtually energy independent. [Video cuts out]

Joe Biden

00:24:27 - 00:24:38 ()

And we have more research universities out of which every major change comes than the entire rest of the world combined. no other nation can match us. We lead by the power of our example, not just by the example of our power. We are a laughingstock around the world right now. The only thing that could tear America apart is America itself.

Joe Biden

00:24:38 - 00:24:57 ()

And that's exactly what Donald Trump is doing in the beginning of this campaign. He knows the only way he can win is divide America, pit us against on another based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion. that's wrong. it's not who we are. everybody knows who Donald Trump is, let's show them who we are. [Audience Boos] We choose hope over fear; we choose unity over division; we choose science over fiction; and yes, we choose truth over lies.

Joe Biden

00:24:57 - 00:25:10 ()

Folks, it's time to stand up and take back this democracy. we can do this, we're than we been. We can be our best when we're the United States of America. God bless you and may God protect our troops. We can get this done, I promise you.