Transcript - Speech: Joe Biden Speaks at a Political Event in Cincinnati, OH - October 12, 2020 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:34 ()

Hello, Cincinnati. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's good to be back. Thank you, thank you. It's good to be back, Mr. Mayor, in this former terminal museum. I tell you what, this is a magnificent facade, isn't it? This is -- I understand that a few marriage proposals were made by standing in that corner and whispering to somebody in the other corner.

Joe Biden

00:00:34 - 00:00:59 ()

I -- Mr. Mayor, thank you for the past passport into the city. Thank you for your friendship. I'm looking around for you. Good to see you in the light. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you for -- the mayor is very good friends with the fellow who -- one of the brightest, most decent men I know who occupies my seat in the United States, Senator Chris Coons.

Joe Biden

00:00:59 - 00:01:23 ()

They were Truman Scholars together. And you guys seem like you're cut from the same cloth. Thank you very, very much for your support. I appreciate it, Mr. Mayor. And Kate, you're something else. Now, Kate, you know, I -- there's an old joke I was -- a long time ago, a particular senator said to me, this was back when I was much younger.

Joe Biden

00:01:23 - 00:01:45 ()

I was in my second term going -- running for my second term. He said, "Joe, I'll come camp -- I'll come to Delaware for you and campaign for you or against you, whichever will help the most." My offer still holds. I hope my endorsement didn't help you and -- but all kidding aside, Kate, you -- we need you in the U.S. Congress.

Joe Biden

00:01:45 - 00:02:09 ()

I really mean it. And the reason I say that is you're a health care advocate, a cancer survivor, a mom, and we need leaders like you representing the people in the 1st district. People understand what is going on every day. The discussions that take place around the kitchen table in the morning where families are still struggling, trying to figure out what to do.

Joe Biden

00:02:09 - 00:02:36 ()

And Joyce, thank you for that introduction. I -- before I began, let me say that I'm saddened to hear one of my baseball heroes, Joe Morgan, second baseman and Reds legend, Hall of Famer and a good man passed away. My condolences to the Morgan family and his teammates and to his fans here in Cincinnati and all across the country.

Joe Biden

00:02:36 - 00:02:59 ()

He played one year for the Philadelphia Phillies. Now I -- I'm going to get myself in real trouble, but I have a bad habit of telling the truth. I happened to grow up in a household in Scranton, Pennsylvania where, if you wanted to have dinner, you had to be a Yankees fan because that was the farm club, the AAA ballclub, the Yankee ballclub.

Joe Biden

00:02:59 - 00:03:21 ()

And my grandpop was an all-American football player but he was a great Yankees fan. And -- but it wasn't hard back in those days. It was Whitey Ford and a few others. But in Delaware, if you are not a Phillies fan -- let me put it this way. If I were not a Phillies fan, I'd be sleeping alone. My wife is a Philly girl.

Joe Biden

00:03:21 - 00:03:44 ()

You think I'm kidding. I'm not. But Joe actually played for -- for a year in the Phillies, if my memory serves me correctly. And you know, he had -- but he had fans all over the country. It's amazing to me both the heart when he was a second baseman and the voice as one of the great baseball announcers in history of the same club.

Joe Biden

00:03:44 - 00:04:11 ()

That's a pretty incredible accomplishment. And so my best to his family and to his fans. I mean, he has fans all across the country. Folks, as my football coach used to say, it's go time, Joe. It's go time. This is the most important election of our lifetimes. Not because I'm running, because what's at stake.

Joe Biden

00:04:11 - 00:04:40 ()

The next president is going to determine not just the next four years, what the next decade or more is going to look like, because there's such a stark fundamental difference. And you here in Cincinnati can make all the difference and all the difference in Ohio. I learned a long time ago coming out to Ohio that you win Ohio from Cincinnati North, heading north.

Joe Biden

00:04:40 - 00:05:24 ()

Well, you are you are the starting gate and I love being back here. Again, what a beautiful museum and terminal this is. I spent a lot of time, as I was telling the mayor, in train stations. When I first got elected, to the United States Senate, I hadn't been -- I was 29. I was in Washington and interviewing my first staff using Senator Kennedy's whip office and I got a phone call from a first responder saying my wife and daughter had just been killed and my two boys were really badly injured and not -- not sure if they were going to make it.

Joe Biden

00:05:24 - 00:06:00 ()

My fire Department, God love -- I love my fire service. Took about three hours to get in the jaws of life to get my kids out of the car because they were broadsided by a tractor trailer. I didn't want any part of going to the United States Senate. My sister managed my campaign and younger sister and much younger brother raised all the money we raised. $187,000. We went to our governor to determine who would be taking my spot because I didn't plan on going.

Joe Biden

00:06:00 - 00:06:42 ()

A lot of really fine men in the Senate at the time and Republicans and Democrats came to me and said just come and stay for six months and help us organize. And so I started commuting everyday back and forth and that's how I got involved as sort of Mr. Amtrak because I -- when they published that, they keep fastidious records on how many miles you travel on government aircraft when you're vice president and I had traveled a little over, I think it was 1,400,000 miles.

Joe Biden

00:06:42 - 00:07:04 ()

It was in the front page of the paper. But I used to like to take the train home on Fridays still as vice president because it cost a lot of money to take that small plane back, but in addition to that, at this -- with the Secret Service, I felt much more secure if I wasn't on a train. But they -- but they humored me and let me go home on Fridays sometimes.

Joe Biden

00:07:04 - 00:07:22 ()

My mom was living at my home. She was passing. And I remember getting on the train and a guy named Angelo Negria, I got to know their families, all the conductors and all the people all those years. He came up to me and he grabbed me and he said, "Joey." He grabbed my cheek. I thought the Secret Service was going to shoot him.

Joe Biden

00:07:22 - 00:07:45 ()

I said, "No," I said, "He's okay." It's a true story. And he said, "I just read, Joey, 1.3 million or 400,000 miles on Air Force Two. Big deal. You know, the boys and I, we were checking with our retirement dinner. Went up to New Jersey for the dinner. You know how many miles you travel on Amtrak?" I said, "No, Angie.

Joe Biden

00:07:45 - 00:08:09 ()

I don't." He said, "Joey," he said, "we figured 117 days a year, 36 years and then X number of days as vice president, you travel 2,100,000 miles on Amtrak." I think I hold a record other than a conductor. And so they gave me a key to the engine because I could -- I'm the only no only one I know of. I'm not supposed to say that, but I got it hidden.

Joe Biden

00:08:09 - 00:08:35 ()

My point is that as a sideline, one of the ways we're going to revive this economy is we're going to end up moving high-speed rail and commuter rail across this country in a way that we haven't done before. And -- but the reason I went home was the same reason why all of you do, try to, and that is to be there in the evening when my kids went to bed.

Joe Biden

00:08:35 - 00:09:00 ()

In the morning, my son Beau, my son Hunter, and my daughter Ashley, get them back to school in the morning on the way to the station. And then get to, when they got older it wasn't the case, but get to kiss them goodnight. And as they kid -- I know, dad. We've got to say three Hail Mary's and God bless our troops.

Joe Biden

00:09:00 - 00:09:52 ()

But so for 36 years, we did this. 250 miles round trip. And folks, you know, it's -- it's really one way that I've said this before and I apologize for the press that travels with me for repeating it, but as I ride home at night, and usually I'd get the -- I could get the 7:00, the last fast train, now they call it Acela, then they called it the Metro, was at 7:00. And I'd ride -- you'd get outside the Beltway exit and you dried by all these neighbors and I'd look in the windows and wonder literally sitting there looking out the window what are those parents talking about at the dining room table at night?

Joe Biden

00:09:52 - 00:10:15 ()

What are they doing before they could put their kids to bed or right after they put their kids to bed and come back and sit down? My guess is they're talking about the same things that we talked about all across the country and we're talking about today. There are asking questions to one another as profound as they are ordinary.

Joe Biden

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

We're going to be okay. We're going to make it. What are we going to do? Who is going to tell her we don't have the money to go back to that community college? Who is going to tell her we got to drive another thousand miles on those bald tires we just don't have the money right now to get four new tires?

Joe Biden

00:10:39 - 00:11:14 ()

This election is about answering those kind of questions. Who's on their side? My dad used to have an expression for real, my dad didn't have work when coal died in Scranton. My dad was a salesperson. He wasn't a coal miner. My great grandfather was a mining engineer but my dad used to say, "Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck it's about your dignity.

Joe Biden

00:11:14 - 00:11:40 ()

It's about respect. It's about your place int eh community. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be okay,' and mean it." That's the lesson I've never forgotten. It's what I grew up with surrounded by hard-working families in Scranton, Pennsylvania and my dad had to move to Delaware.

Joe Biden

00:11:40 - 00:12:29 ()

Took us home to my grandpa for a year. But we finally got down and got together again and that's the discussions we had in Claymont and Scranton like here in Cincinnati. But times are hard. Unemployment is up due to the pandemic. Economic outlook remains very uncertain and very mishandled. Across Ohio, in this country folks are worried about making their next rent payment or mortgage payment, whether or not they are going to be out in the street.

Joe Biden

00:12:29 - 00:12:57 ()

Whether or not they can purchase that prescription drug they need or how much food they can put on the table. Making hard choices. Worry about whether the school, their child is enrolled in is going to be able to be open. What do they do if I still have a job -- but I have a young child? Do I go to work and their school is not open?

Joe Biden

00:12:57 - 00:13:33 ()

Who takes care of them? How do we do that? They see the people at the top doing better and better even in the midst of this god-awful recession. While they are left to wonder and I mean this sincerely they are left to wonder who is looking out for me? That's Donald Trump's presidency. 215,000 people dead from COVID-19. Experts are telling us we may lose up to another 200,000 lives by the end of January all because the president is only worried about one thing, the stock market.

Joe Biden

00:13:33 - 00:14:08 ()

Because he refused to follow science -- it's estimated we just wore masks -- the mask I just took off to speak experts tell us we can save between now and the end of the year 100,000 lives. President knew back in January I think it was the 28th of January the intelligence community kept telling him how serious this pandemic would be.

Joe Biden

00:14:08 - 00:14:44 ()

He knew it was extremely dangerous. An extremely communicable disease, airborne. He didn't tell anybody. His desire to try to get Bob Woodward to write something good about him he did a long interview with Woodward, famous journalist. And he went on record, on tape he's taped saying, Trump is -- that he knew how dangerous this disease was but he did and said nothing except praise Xi for the great service he was performing, how transparent he was.

Joe Biden

00:14:44 - 00:15:13 ()

Ask yourself, why did he not tell the country or what -- how much better off would we be had he told the country? He said nothing. He told Bob Woodward he didn't want to panic the American public. Americans don't panic. Trump panicked. Trump is the one who panicked. Reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis as well has been unconscionable.

Joe Biden

00:15:13 - 00:15:35 ()

The longer Donald Trump is president the more reckless he gets. Dr. Fauci, most respected person in this area in the country referred to the president's announcement event for the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden as a super spreader event. Publicly criticizing it. And how -- how is the president responding?

Joe Biden

00:15:35 - 00:16:14 ()

He's running a national ad here in Cincinnati and all across the country quoting Dr. Fauci out of context. Dr. Fauci said back in March referring to public-health officials, "I can't imagine anybody could be doing more" end of quote -- referring to public-health officials. But Trump in his campaign we're very much used to deception, not telling the truth deliberately lied by putting Fauci in his ad implying that Fauci was talking about Trump saying he doesn't know how anybody could do any better.

Joe Biden

00:16:14 - 00:16:42 ()

And Fauci after he saw the ad he went public. You've probably seen it on the nightly news. He came after that and he said, I did not give permission for that quote to be used and it wasn't about the president. Even after he said that and the point I listened to your -- your talk even after he said that look what happened.

Joe Biden

00:16:42 - 00:17:12 ()

They continued to lie. They said, we are keeping it in the ad. Same ad that says I'm going to increase taxes on middle-class folks with the same amount of credibility. Look, they use the ad knowing it's a lie. Can you remember any other major mainstream presidential candidate ever doing something like these things?

Joe Biden

00:17:12 - 00:17:40 ()

As a consequence of overwhelming lying, misleading and irresponsible action on the part of Donald Trump, how many empty chairs are going to be around dinner table tonight because of their negligence? How many? How many brothers, sisters, mothers fathers, uncles, aunts, moms, dads are gone? Folks we're so much better than this.

Joe Biden

00:17:40 - 00:18:01 ()

Despite the crisis we face I have a -- we have an enormous opportunity like America has done unlike any other country after every crisis, we've always come out of the crisis stronger than we were before we went in. That's uniqueness of who we are. We now have an opportunity to build back and build back better.

Joe Biden

00:18:01 - 00:18:36 ()

To give everyone a fair return on their work, an equal chance to get ahead. Begin to reward work not just wealth. For example, for communities of color here in Cincinnati and all across the country the question is how do we break the cycle? Where in good times they lag in bad times they get hit first and hardest and in recovery they're the last and toughest to bounce back -- the answer is justice.

Joe Biden

00:18:36 - 00:19:01 ()

Justice. Criminal justice, police reforms. I know this nation is strong enough to both honestly face systemic racism and strong enough to provide safe streets for our families and small businesses that too often bare the brunt of looting and burning, which are never justified. We have no need though for armed militia roaming the streets.

Joe Biden

00:19:01 - 00:19:40 ()

We should have no tolerance for extremist white supremacist groups menacing our communities. You've been reading what's happening up in Michigan. The governor is a good friend. They are in her driveway with assault weapons standing there because you can open carry in her state attempting to intimidate. Remember in I was going to call it a debate but the shouting match he engaged in when he was asked by a FOX reporter not a left-wing somebody or other would he condemn white supremacy -- never answered the question.

Joe Biden

00:19:40 - 00:20:21 ()

I said, what about -- well, what about those guys that you in fact, talk about all the time? Those boys he talks about? He said, "Well I would just tell them to stand back and stand by." Neighborhoods I worked in in the black community in Delaware -- that's called a dog-whistle. They say we should trust the American law-enforcement authorities to do their jobs -- I do -- and let their -- do their job without extremist groups acting as vigilantes.

Joe Biden

00:20:21 - 00:20:45 ()

They say we have no need to face racial injustice in this country. You haven't opened your eyes to what's been going on in this country and has for a long time. You know -- I decided to run for president -- and I hadn't planned on it, for real. But I decided to run when I saw those folks marching out of the fields in Charlottesville.

Joe Biden

00:20:45 - 00:21:19 ()

Close your eyes. You remember what you saw on television? These white supremacist Nazi sympathizers carrying Nazi flags. Using the exact same jargon used -- anti-Semitic jargon used -- as it was used in Germany in the '30s. Accompanied by the Ku Klux Klan and the Grand Kleagle saying this is why we elected him and a young woman ends up being killed.

Joe Biden

00:21:19 - 00:21:52 ()

And they asked the president what do you think? He said something no president has ever said. Mark it down -- ever said. "There are very fine people on both sides." There've been very powerful voices for justice in recent weeks and months. I've spent some time more than one time with George Floyd's family and his little daughter Gianna.

Joe Biden

00:21:52 - 00:22:28 ()

I knelt down to say hi to her and she said in a soft voice Daddy -- my word, this is a quote, "Daddy changed the world." Also got to know Jacob Blake's mom and dad and the whole family. Know what she said? She said violence didn't reflect her son and that this nation needed healing. To stop the rioting, peacefully march but there's no justification for violence.

Joe Biden

00:22:28 - 00:23:04 ()

One of the things that I've found -- I've been in this civil rights arena for a long time -- found pretty moving -- was Doc Rivers the basketball coach choking back tears. Remember what he said a couple weeks ago? Quote, "We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We've been hung." Continuing the quote, "It's amazing why we keep loving this country and this country doesn't love us back." Think about that.

Joe Biden

00:23:04 - 00:23:36 ()

Think about what it takes for a black person to love America. That is a deep love for this country that for ta -- far too long has never been fully recognized. You know -- Trump talks about the lack of systemic racism. This is the first administration ever -- we've never met we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men -- we've never met that standard.

Joe Biden

00:23:36 - 00:24:01 ()

But every generation has moved closer and closer and closer to inclusion. This is the first one elected president to deliberately try to turn it back in a big way. With all due respect I think what we need in America is leadership that seeks to deescalate tensions. To open the lines of communication and bring us back together.

Joe Biden

00:24:01 - 00:24:48 ()

To heal and to hope. As president that's precisely what I will do. That's a president's job. It just goes beyond the issue of police community relations. Goes about being able to compete and build wealth. It's about jobs. Good-paying jobs. Financial stavility -- stability. Fanams -- families of colder -- color building wealth and being able to pass it down like my Irish Catholic folks were able to do in Scranton coming up from nothing.

Joe Biden

00:24:48 - 00:25:16 ()

You build home equity you got something to pass on. For example -- another example is more and more women are dropping out of the workforce in this recession whether in a city or in the suburbs. I have a plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly. Testing, tracing, masking. Not politicizing the race for a vaccine.

Joe Biden

00:25:16 - 00:25:48 ()

Plan for its safe and equitable distribution. Providing funding for PPE -- the protective equipment and other resources. For schools and businesses to be able to reopen safely. If you notice the president said when he was asked about his responsibility he said, "I take no responsibility." That was a quote. "I take no responsibility." No national standard has been set by this administration.

Joe Biden

00:25:48 - 00:26:20 ()

Mr. Mayor, you do it on your own or with your governor or with your others in your community. We have to do so much and we can do so much. Ease the caregiving crisis for so many families experiencing now. That squeeze between raising your kids while caring for an aged love one. It's real. Protect your healthcare in the middle of this pandemic.

Joe Biden

00:26:20 - 00:26:57 ()

Why do so many Republicans today have time to hold a hearing on the Supreme Court with 22 days left to go instead of providing significant economic recovery and needs for the people who are hurting so badly, Democrats and Republicans? Think about that. I handled the Recovery Act for our administration. $800 billion in 18 months with less than two-tenths of one percent waste or fraud.

Joe Biden

00:26:57 - 00:27:37 ()

We had an Inspector General who looked over everything I did and I met with twice -- once every two weeks. Got $147 -- $45 billion out to state and localities so you didn't have to lay off cops, firefighters, schoolteachers, nurses, first responders. What are we doing? Zip. The House acted at the beginning of the summer with the so-called HEROES Act to pay for all of this.

Joe Biden

00:27:37 - 00:28:05 ()

States are in trouble. I'll tell you why they're not doing anything about it. Two reasons. One, it's all about wiping out the Affordable Care Act which has been an obsession for this president since he became president. It was an Obama idea. Because their nominee has said in the past that the law should be struck down.

Joe Biden

00:28:05 - 00:28:37 ()

Not as a judge she didn't -- this is -- that's her view. That's gonna take healthcare coverage away from 20 million Americans. Because of his mishandling of the economy and COVID we've already lost -- 10 million people have already lost their employer based health insurance. 10 million. It's gonna take away preexisting conditions coverage for 100-plus-million Americans.

Joe Biden

00:28:37 - 00:29:20 ()

And complications from COVID-19 like lung scarring as well as heart damage could well put how many millions more -- there's over 7 million people have contracted COVID in the United States. What happens then? Pre-existing conditions cannot be covered. It's gonna toss out the rule that allows children to be covered on their parents' healthcare 'til age 26. It's gonna take an -- us backwards when insurance companies could chat -- charge a woman more for the same exact treatment that they charge a man.

Joe Biden

00:29:20 - 00:29:51 ()

And pregnancy once again becomes a preexisting condition. Folks, we can do so much better than this. Together we can build on the Affordable Care Act writing a new -- new health insurance option. A non-profit public option which is giving private insurers a real comp -- a real competitor. Increase the subsidies so premiums are lower and you can afford plans with lower deductibles and lower out-of-pocket costs.

Joe Biden

00:29:51 - 00:30:34 ()

We can only do any of this if the country comes together. Last week, I went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to the battlefield where Abraham Lincoln told us that a house divided cannot stand. Today, trust is ebbing. Hope seems elusive. Instead of trying to heal, his policies are ripping us apart. And those Republicans who are willing to cooperate get punished by this president.

Joe Biden

00:30:34 - 00:30:53 ()

I refuse to let that happen. We need to revive the spirit of bipartisanship in this country. I know that sounds bizarre in light of where we are. A spirit of being able to work with one another. When I say that, and I said that from the time I announced, I was told that maybe that was the way things used to work, Joe.

Joe Biden

00:30:53 - 00:31:24 ()

You got a lot done before Joe, but you can't do that anymore. Well, I'm here to tell you and say we can and we must if we're going to get anything done. Democracy requires consensus. I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an American president. There will be no blue states and red states with me.

Joe Biden

00:31:24 - 00:31:54 ()

It's one America. I'll work with Democrats and Republicans. I will work for hard -- as hard for those who vote against me as those who voted for me. That's the job of a president. The duty to care, to care for everybody. We can disagree on policy, but you can still care. And you too have a sacred duty, in my humble opinion, as my friend John Lewis said before he died and while he was alive.

Joe Biden

00:31:54 - 00:32:45 ()

You have a sacred obligation to vote. It matters. Ohio matters. You elected me and Barrack in '8 -- 2008 and '12. I'm asking for your support. I want to earn -- I take nothing for granted. I'm asking for your support for Kamala and me in 2020. I promise we'll always have your back. So please vote. Go to iwillvote.com/OH now to request your absentee ballot to vote by mail, to confirm your early voting location, to vote early in person, to find your polling place to vote in person on Election Day.

Joe Biden

00:32:45 - 00:33:22 ()

Just make sure you have a plan. As a future congresswoman said, bring along family. Bring along friends. Make their plans to vote as well no matter what. Don't let anybody discourage you and tell you your voice won't be counted. It does. Don't be intimidated by talk of having some of these Proud Boys stand there with their rifles in lines where you can open carry to try to intimidate people without saying anything.

Joe Biden

00:33:22 - 00:33:51 ()

You, the American people decide our future. Vote and I'm convinced you're going to turn out in large numbers. When I announced, I said I was running to restore America's soul. It's time to restore its soul. It's time to rebuild the backbone of this country the middle class, and this time, bring everybody along no matter your race, your age, your gender, your religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, everybody gets to come along.

Joe Biden

00:33:51 - 00:34:28 ()

It's time to Unite America, and we'll do that by choosing hope over fear, science over fiction, truth over lies, and unity over division. There's nothing beyond the capacity of this nation when we stand together. So it's time to stand up, take back our democracy, unite. Let's for the first time in a while, reflect the values of the vast America -- the vast majority of Americans hold.

Joe Biden

00:34:28 - 00:35:26 ()

May God bless you and May God bless our troops. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.