Transcript - Speech: Joe Biden Speaks at a Political Event in Johnstown, PA - September 30, 2020 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:02 ()

How are you? Good to see you. Hello, Johnstown. It's good to be back. It's good to be back.

Unidentified

00:00:02 - 00:00:02 ()

We love you, Joe.

Joe Biden

00:00:02 - 00:01:56 ()

Well, thank you. I tell you what I first came to Johnstown, and it was all Democrat and guess what it's going to be Johnstown, and this county is going to be Democrat again after this election. It's good to be back, man. I will tell you what it's been an incredible day. We started this morning in Cleveland, Ohio, where just last night, I had a truly unique experience of debating whatever his name was, Donald Trump. [Audience Boos] Oh, man.

Joe Biden

00:01:56 - 00:02:51 ()

And from there -- and from there we have been in communities all across Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and we are finishing up right here in Johnstown tonight. I want to thank the lieutenant governor for being here. We call lieutenant governors where I'm from governors, so governor thanks for being here and, thank your wife as well, along with local elected officials and leaders for joining us today.

Joe Biden

00:02:51 - 00:03:23 ()

And Brian, thank you for your years of service and your wife's service to our country, the United States Navy, and for sharing your stories with us. You know last night the president of the United States was reminded that he said that our veterans were losers and suckers. [Audience Boos] No, I'm serious about this.

Joe Biden

00:03:23 - 00:04:13 ()

Like your family my son spent a year in Iraq. By the way, that's a good thing. It's still running. That's a good thing. And like [Inaudible] came back decorated with the Bronze Star, the conspicuous service medal and I thought it was despicable that Donald Trump refers to everyone from my friend and colleague and my competitor John McCain straight through to my son and others.

Joe Biden

00:04:13 - 00:05:07 ()

It is despicable. The man doesn't deserve to be commander in chief of the United States Military. But I want to thank the good people at Amtrak who have been keeping me moving today. Quite frankly, my whole career. I started by taking the train when I got elected as a 29-year-old kid to the United States Senate.

Joe Biden

00:05:07 - 00:05:51 ()

I started going back and forth every single day so that I could be home in Wilmington every night with my two young boys as a single dad after I lost my wife. Two hours each way, nearly 250 miles every day so I could be there for breakfast with the boys. It wasn't Ozzie and Harriet stuff. We just sort of you know cornflakes, but at least I got to be there and later with my daughter.

Joe Biden

00:05:51 - 00:07:24 ()

Kiss them good morning and go home and kiss them good night. That train brought me back to my home base every single night to my family. It kept me grounded; it kept me connected and man, I always remembered what and who really mattered in my life and riding that train all of those miles every day and I have spent as the conductors informed me over 2,100,000 miles on Amtrak at least they should have named a stop -- I -- they said Biden, they named a statement -- a station after you they should have named the whole damn road after me all of those times.

Joe Biden

00:07:24 - 00:08:50 ()

All kidding aside, but seriously it's a true story. I would ride home at night after a debate in the United States Senate about fair tax policy or all about healthcare or about unions that I was fighting for, and I would look out I really mean this I would look out like I did coming from Cleveland today I would look out at all of those homes I would pass, those middle-class neighborhoods like I was raised in I was raised like a lot of you I expect three bedroom home, split-level house four kids, mom, dad, and a grandpop living with us and I tell you what -- I tell you what I would wonder if they are having the same conversations my mom and dad had when we were growing up.

Joe Biden

00:08:50 - 00:09:34 ()

Sitting there wondering you know honey we need four new tires on the car, and we can't afford it, got to wait another couple of months before we can get them. Or you know who's going to tell them we might not have the money to help them go back to the university this semester. Who is going to say it? Or maybe, maybe we are going to have to worry about whether or not they turn the electricity off because we are behind on our bill because the job changed or I lost my health insurance.

Joe Biden

00:09:34 - 00:10:10 ()

They are the conversations that people are having today. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of the people in the middle-class over 50 percent, said if they got a bill for $400 and it was unexpected in one month, they would have to borrow the money or sell something to pay it. I think about their struggles and their worries.

Joe Biden

00:10:10 - 00:11:10 ()

I think about their hopes and their dreams. I talked to the other passengers on the train, and I got pretty friendly with some of the conductors, I learned about their lives and their families. It was a constant reminder that every single person has their own unique story, their own journey, and in my experience, everyone is just looking for a chance, not a guarantee, just a chance to get ahead, just a fair shot, an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams and that dream is getting further and further out of reach for so many folks here in Johnstown my hometown of Scranton, Claymont where I was raised it is getting harder and harder.

Joe Biden

00:11:10 - 00:11:52 ()

That is what I have seen today at every stop on that train from the folks who have joined me on this trip. I spent time with a dedicated elementary school teacher from Lordstown, Ohio, who spoke about how the GM plant -- remember the president said don't sell your homes, everything's going to be okay in Lordstown, everything is going to stay but that GM plant closed and guess what?

Joe Biden

00:11:52 - 00:13:18 ()

It devastated the whole community, about how her own husband had to accept the transfer to a plant in Kentucky, an 8-hour drive each way only home on the weekends just in order to maintain his healthcare and his pension. Now he drives 16 hours every weekend to see her and the kids. I listened to an incredible young woman mother of four at home, a health aide, and a nursing student talk about how worried she is that no one is looking out for the caregivers in this country, the people who meant so many of them have literally risked and given their lives so that we would be okay especially during this pandemic.

Joe Biden

00:13:18 - 00:13:54 ()

I saw steelworkers and ironworkers whose union brothers and sisters built Pittsburgh, the famous bridges, proud operating engineers -- who keep the engines of our economy pumping. I heard from union members who have gotten a raw deal so many times and so many more at every stop that I am at. Just hard-working people like all of you.

Joe Biden

00:13:54 - 00:14:55 ()

Well, folks, the folks who played by the rules, paid their fair share their whole lives, folks who have never ask for a single thing to be given to them just a chance to earn it. Folks, there couldn't be a more stark difference from what I saw last night on that debate stage. A self-entitled, self-serving president who thinks everything is about him.

Joe Biden

00:14:55 - 00:15:46 ()

He thinks that if he just yells louder and louder, throws out lie after lie after lie, he will get his way. He thinks we will forget. Well, he picked the wrong guy. I don't forget, I don't forget that in February, he is on tape as acknowledging he knew how serious this pandemic was, he knew more quickly it would spread some of the thousands of people he could kill, but he forgot to say a single thing to us.

Joe Biden

00:15:46 - 00:16:10 ()

He kept it secret because he's more worried about the stock market collapsing than about the over 205,000 people who have died. He didn't say a word. What did he tell us? He said it will be gone by Easter. It will go away in the warm weather. He told us it would just go away like a miracle.

Unidentified

00:16:10 - 00:16:11 ()

Joe Biden

00:16:11 - 00:16:49 ()

And then maybe this we injected bleach in our arm we may be okay. He thinks we will forget about how badly he mismanaged this pandemic and cost us more so far than 205,000 lives and counting, almost 30 million people on unemployment insurance. He thinks we will forget the reasons our businesses and our schools are closed is because he took no responsibility.

Joe Biden

00:16:49 - 00:17:32 ()

He is a complete failure. He didn't get the people the PPE, the resources they need to be able to reopen safely. He didn't speak to you or the American people about the concerns, not even once last night did he say a word about anything. Seriously, think about it; not once. It is not only the trail of broken promises and lies he told communities like Johnstown all across the industrial Midwest; it's more than that.

Joe Biden

00:17:32 - 00:18:52 ()

As Joe said -- I said last night when he learned that 1000 people a day were dying, what was his comment? He said it is what it is. [Audience Boos] Well, that's because he is who he is. And then when he ran, he told us how much he cared about people like my family and yours, the places we come from. You know what his staff reported him saying this is about three weeks ago the truth -- the truth is he said that he in fact thinks we are all losers, he doesn't respect -- no, behind closed doors it has been reported that he called his own supporters, working-class folks that the Democrats around the way began to forget about what he called them his supporters quote disgusting.

Joe Biden

00:18:52 - 00:19:51 ()

He's the same guy who let you earn a couple bucks parking cars in his country club but even if you had the money he wouldn't allow you to join. They look down the nose at working families trying to do it right. It has been confirmed by multiple sources that he thinks that those of us, those of us who sign up and put our country on -- put our lives on the line our veterans, as I mentioned earlier, are just suckers and losers. [Audience Boos] I really mean it, man.

Joe Biden

00:19:51 - 00:20:48 ()

I mean this from the bottom of my heart. It is absolutely despicable, and I will tell you, by the way, six of his generals who work for him all say he's not worthy of being president of the United States of America. His own generals. I will tell you right now it's not how I was raised, not how you were raised, not how the vast majority of Americans who break their neck every day just wanting to get a fair shake were raised.

Joe Biden

00:20:48 - 00:21:59 ()

By the way, Donald Trump could only see the world from Park Avenue. He cares only what the super-rich and connected think. He only sees value in stock portfolios. I don't own a single share of stock. I had the dubious distinction when I got elected maybe that's why he doesn't like me very much of being listed as the poorest man in Congress for 36 years; you think I'm joking, I'm not proud of it, it's true, because I didn't think you were supposed to earn money while you are in politics.

Joe Biden

00:21:59 - 00:22:38 ()

In addition to that, when I got elected for the vice presidency there's a headline in the papers saying it's probable no man has ever assumed the Office of Vice President with fewer assets than Joe Biden. I don't think he was speaking intellectual. Well, guess what his only metric is how the economy is doing is Dow Jones.

Joe Biden

00:22:38 - 00:23:14 ()

It doesn't matter if communities like Johnstown are still hurting, and he doesn't have a plan to help you get back on your feet or deliver relief to the people who most need help. He is too busy planning for his next big tax giveaway for the -- this is a true story billionaires made $300 billion more in this pandemic, fact.

Joe Biden

00:23:14 - 00:23:47 ()

And now do know what his new tax plan is? He is proposing another $30 billion tax cut for billionaires by reducing what they call capital gains to 15 percent. They will be making billions and paying a lower rate, lower rate than a firefighter or a schoolteacher, a schoolteacher, and a firefighter together, lower rate.

Joe Biden

00:23:47 - 00:24:25 ()

The 100 richest folks in this country the 100 richest folks in this country, are, in fact, own more wealth than about half of the population. You know it's time when nearly 30 million people are on unemployment, 100 million people he's trying to take away your healthcare, 100 million people with pre-existing conditions.

Joe Biden

00:24:25 - 00:25:28 ()

He is going to court a week after the election to try to eliminate -- eliminate the Affordable Care Act, strip -- [Audience Boos] -- no, by the way if this -- is I tried to -- if we made a movie about this they'd think it's just all f -- it couldn't be possible that in the middle of this pandemic, in the middle of this pandemic when you have 7 million people infected, 40,000 a day becoming infected, 750 to 1000 a day dying and his one goal is take away healthcare.

Joe Biden

00:25:28 - 00:26:34 ()

It's not a joke, not a joke. Ten million people have already lost the healthcare provided by the employers because employers have gone out of business, 10 million and 20 million people if he gets his way, I think it's on November 7, 8, 9, or 10 when they go to the supreme court -- 10, they will lose -- they will lose -- 20 million people will lose their health insurance, more than 100 million people on -- with pre-existing conditions will, in fact, be charged more for their coverage.

Joe Biden

00:26:34 - 00:27:05 ()

You know what's going to happen is in addition to that, when they eliminate the Affordable Care Act, we are going to be able to charge women more money for the same procedures men get charged for. No, not -- not a joke. [Audience Boos] That is what the law he wants to eliminate will do. Pregnancy will be, again -- not a joke -- a pre-existing condition which you get charged a great deal more for.

Joe Biden

00:27:05 - 00:27:38 ()

Folks, you know we can't let that happen. He is too busy trying to salvage his floundering reelection campaign to understand that people don't want a superficial, temporary tax cut on their withholding tax because guess what gets taken out of Social Security? You know what the Social Security actuary said?

Joe Biden

00:27:38 - 00:28:15 ()

If his plan goes through, Social Security will be totally bankrupt by 2023. [Audience Boos] They have been -- and I know this sounds ridiculous remember I told you when Paul Ryan was there they wanted to cut Medicaid and cut Social Security? That was in their budget, that is what they want to do. I don't know where these guys come from.

Joe Biden

00:28:15 - 00:29:06 ()

Look, I have dealt with guys like Trump my whole life, guys that look down on us because they have got a lot of money, inherited it, guys who think they are better than you, guys who, as I said, might have let you park their car in the country club they own but never let you join or come in. Guys who inherited everything they have ever gotten and then squandered it.

Joe Biden

00:29:06 - 00:29:57 ()

I see the world from where I grew up in Scranton. Not a joke. You see it from different perspective, but Johnstown or any town we stopped in today is filled with people who are busting their necks to do right by their families every day. They aren't worried about the stock market; they are worried about putting food on the table every night.

Joe Biden

00:29:57 - 00:30:34 ()

They are worried about making the rent; they are worried about being 20 million people are worried they won't be able to pay their mortgage payment this month, 20 million. My mom used to always say -- Jean Finnegan Biden from Scranton she would say, "Joey, remember look at me Joey, nobody is better than you, but everyone is your equal." He doesn't get that.

Joe Biden

00:30:34 - 00:31:39 ()

When my dad had to leave the Scranton when there were no jobs and moved to Wilmington, he didn't have to commute like the woman I met today, her husband eight hours each way, but he had to commute back and forth from Wilmington every weekend, and that was only a three, and a half-hour drive each way, but when we got to Delaware and finally were able to buy a house three years later my dad used to say, "Joey a job is about a lot more than a paycheck, it is about your dignity, it is about respect, it is about your place in the community." That is what was missing today, providing dignity for the work we do.

Joe Biden

00:31:39 - 00:32:23 ()

Those are the values that shaped my life, and when it gets down to it, I think this whole campaign gets down to Park Avenue versus Scranton, Park Avenue versus Johnstown. Trump may think there ought to be a different set of rules for him and his rich buddies, rules that get them out of taxes, get them out of responsibilities, get them out of consequences for every one of the mistakes they make, but I don't think so.

Joe Biden

00:32:23 - 00:32:50 ()

I think it's about time we start rewarding work and not wealth. I think it's about time families get a break, and the super-wealthy and corporate America start paying their fair share. You know there's still going to do well even if they pay their fair share.

Unidentified

00:32:50 - 00:32:54 ()

Take his ass out.

Joe Biden

00:32:54 - 00:33:25 ()

But here's what I know, Donald Trump will never understand Wall Street didn't build this country, CEOs didn't, the middle class built America and unions built the middle class. That is [Inaudible] are about helping communities like Johnstown and Scranton and Claymont and places I grew up to build back better.

Joe Biden

00:33:25 - 00:33:48 ()

I am here today to say to you what I will do as President what Donald Trump hasn't; I will fight for you, not for the corporations, you. Your jobs, your families.

Unidentified

00:33:48 - 00:33:51 ()

We love you, Joe.

Joe Biden

00:33:51 - 00:34:50 ()

Not only are we going to build back, we will build back better. It is all about injecting life and capital back into places like Johnstown, and it starts with a simple proposition buy American. The federal government spends $600 billion of your taxpayers' money every single year on everything from military equipment to steel railings to buildings to highways, cars and trucks, and federal fleets.

Joe Biden

00:34:50 - 00:35:34 ()

When I am president, we are going to make sure that every one of those products, every single piece that goes into any of those contracts is made and built in America. I am serious; we can do this. We are going to end Trump's incentive to send jobs overseas any -- and any company that brings jobs back or reopens a closed factory like those around Johnstown will get a 10 percent credit and incentive -- incentive to build back.

Joe Biden

00:35:34 - 00:36:42 ()

No, look, we are going to direct billions of dollars in revitalization funds and competitive grants to help places like Johnstown compete for new businesses and startups. We are going to make four years of public education, two years of community college free for families making less than $125,000. We are going to lower healthcare costs by increasing subsidies for your premiums, so they are lower slashing the cost of prescription drugs by literally as much as 60 percent, and you say how do you do that, Joe?

Joe Biden

00:36:42 - 00:37:10 ()

What we are going to do a system that sets up an expert panel of 25 people. For every new drug that comes on the market they have to go before that group of experts. They will set the price based on your investment just like you do for utility and you cannot raise that price ever again beyond the cost of medical inflation.

Joe Biden

00:37:10 - 00:38:00 ()

We are going to take on the opioid crisis, [Inaudible] effective treatment and for substance use disorders. We are going to do it all without raising a penny in taxes for anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year. If you make more than $400,000, I'm going to raise your taxes. So raise your hand. No, maybe he didn't believe me that I can do that without raising taxes on the middle class, but I will bet that's before you found out that the billionaire Donald Trump only paid $750 in income tax. [Audience Boos] If Trump and his Park Avenue pals start paying their fair share, we will have more than enough money to finally build an economy that works for everybody.

Joe Biden

00:38:00 - 00:38:25 ()

So I promise you this, I see you. I hear you. I respect you. I grew up with you, and the families of those more than 200,000 Americans who have died in this pandemic will be heard and respected by me. I will work like crazy to get this pandemic under control so we can get our economy working again for everyone and get back our lives.

Joe Biden

00:38:25 - 00:38:49 ()

We are a nation in incredible pain right now, so many empty chairs around the dining table at night because somebody has been lost in the family. So many businesses closed with doors closed forever because the money that the Congress has voted to get to small businesses went to his friends, his rich friends on Wall Street.

Joe Biden

00:38:49 - 00:39:12 ()

So many proud people on unemployment for the first time in their lives not able to get the kind of unemployment insurance that we initially passed in that Congress. You know, as my wife said, this is not a partisan moment, this is an American moment. No, I really mean it. We can't afford to go on being divided.

Joe Biden

00:39:12 - 00:39:20 ()

We can't afford to have a leader who does nothing but throw gasoline on the anger and hatred that is burning in this country.

Unidentified

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

Joe Biden

00:39:21 - 00:39:51 ()

We have to come together. Look, I promise you all this, I am running as a proud Democrat, but I will be an American president. I will fight as hard for those who supported me as those who did not. I promise you this. I will fight for you. That is what we need right now, a president who will try to bring us together, who will speak to what is best in all of us rather than try to divide us.

Joe Biden

00:39:51 - 00:40:20 ()

Put that dog whistle out of racism. Did you hear what he said last night when he was asked by the Fox commentator asked would he condemn white supremacy, which the FBI says is a serious threat to terrorism in America today, he said well, of course, I am against all bad things. I said, how about the Proud Boys?

Joe Biden

00:40:20 - 00:40:53 ()

He said the Proud Boys, he said I will tell you what I will just tell them to stand down but stand by. [Audience Boos] Go online; the Proud Boys now have a logo saying stand down but stand by. As I said in the newspaper today, that rivals Vladimir Putin, not a joke to -- in fact threaten that if he doesn't when there will be violence.

Joe Biden

00:40:53 - 00:41:30 ()

Look, we have got to stop -- we have got to stop pitting ourselves against one another. We are one people. We are one nation, one America. We need to remember who in God's name we are. This is the United States of America. In our long history there's been nothing, nothing ever think about this in every crisis we have ever had; there has not been a single thing we have been unable to overcome, nothing when we act together when we have done it together.

Joe Biden

00:41:30 - 00:41:58 ()

Folks, I am so optimistic about what the country is ready to do. No, no, I really am. I think we are ready to stand up. I think the blinders have been taken off the American people. They understand what is at stake. We are -- we can own the 21st century. We are, as Madeleine Albright said, the essential country.

Joe Biden

00:41:58 - 00:42:29 ()

We can and must lead the world again. We have not only led the world by the example of our power but the power of our example. Why does the rest of the world follow us? Because of who we are, what we stand for, our example, and it is being trashed all over the world. There was a recent Pew poll done by major nations -- in the major nations of the world.

Joe Biden

00:42:29 - 00:43:50 ()

Donald Trump as president this is not a joke; check it online, Donald Trump is less respected than President Xi and Putin. Can you imagine that? So folks, look as I said this United States of America. We can do anything, and we are about to do it. With your help, the grace of God, and the goodwill of our neighbors, as my grandpop would say, we are coming back, so God bless you all, and may God protect our troops.

Joe Biden

00:43:50 - 00:44:28 ()

We are coming back this year, 30 some days. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.