Transcript - Speech: Joe Biden Speaks at a Political Event in Milwaukee, WI - October 30, 2020 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

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

It's cold! Well hello, Milwaukee. It's good to be back. It's good to be back. I'll tell you what, they told me it's going to be indoors. You all are a hearty bunch in Milwaukee. Sheriff, how you doing? Look, Terrance, thank you.

Joe Biden

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

Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for exercising your power as a young voter first time. You're an inspiration, man. And I want you to know that a lot of us in here growing up as kid, understood what it's like to be a -- to know bullies. I -- I hadn't planned on saying this, in light of what you just -- your introduction, Sheriff, and Tom's heard me say this before, and the mayor.

Joe Biden

00:00:51 - 00:01:14 ()

When I was a kid, I used to stutter. You want to learn what bullies are like, be a stuttering kid. T-t-talk like that, everybody thinks they can make fun of you. So I'm used to bullies. Matter of fact, I used to have a nickname in school, Tom. They used to call me "shoe leather." The reason they called me shoe leather, I was a little runt -- you could beat me, but I'd hurt you, like pounding in a shoe leather.

Joe Biden

00:01:14 - 00:01:43 ()

But I'll tell you what, I think you made a great metaphor about what's going on here. You're making your family really proud. And Joanne, I want to thank you for all you do to lift up this community, for your praise and dignity and jobs in Milwaukee. My dad used to have an expression. He -- he lost his job in Scranton, Pennsylvania when I was a kid, and he took us to my grandpop's, my mom's dad.

Joe Biden

00:01:43 - 00:02:02 ()

My grandmom was passed. And so he said, "You're going to live here for about a year. I'm going to commute every day from Scranton, Pennsylvania down to Wilmington, Delaware where there's jobs, Joey. And when we get a -- when I get one, I'll be back for you and your mom and your brother and your sister." My sister's with me today, too.

Joe Biden

00:02:02 - 00:02:25 ()

Where's my sister, Valerie? She's my best friend in the world. Anyway, Val. And he said, it's only a 157 miles away, Wilmington, Delaware. He'd come home every weekend. And when he got -- when we got down to Wilmington and he finally got a job, that we could -- bring us down and be able to rent an apartment, he used to always have an expression, Sheriff.

Joe Biden

00:02:25 - 00:02:51 ()

He'd say, "You know, Joey, a job's about a lot more than a paycheck." It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about your place in the community. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, "Honey, it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." As Gwen knows, there's not an awful lot of people out there right now, a lot of hardworking people who can't say it's going to be okay.

Joe Biden

00:02:51 - 00:03:17 ()

They're in trouble. Statistics show, for example, that over 50 percent of the American people think -- actually it's 49 percent, to be precise, got a bill for $400 in one month they didn't anticipate, they had to borrow the money or sell something. So a lot of people are still hurting. And Gwen, let's send her back, because I tell you what, she is a voice for Milwaukee, a voice for the country.

Joe Biden

00:03:17 - 00:03:43 ()

And I'm so glad you're on my side, kid. So glad you're on my side, because I'm on yours. I want to thank y'all for welcoming me today. And Tom, you've been a good friend for a long time. Thank you, pal. Tom -- Tom endorsed me when they said, "Joe who's running for what?" Anyway, but thank you, Tom. And Sheriff -- Sheriff Lucas, and Sheriff Mahoney, and Ambassador Joan Prince, I want to thank you all for being here.

Joe Biden

00:03:43 - 00:04:06 ()

There you are. Okay. Look, it's great to be back with you. Folks, there's only four days left. Millions of Americans have already voted. They tell me now it's up to about 85 million Americans have already voted, and millions more are going to vote before this election is over. It's my belief when you use your power, the.

Joe Biden

00:04:06 - 00:04:27 ()

power to vote, you can change the course of the country, and quite frankly, right now, the course of the world, because it's leaderless now. And you're going to start right here in Wisconsin. Tom remembers I came up here campaigning for Hillary. And for a whole lot of reasons, not all which were her fault, ending up not taking it seriously; we thought it was different.

Joe Biden

00:04:27 - 00:05:12 ()

I've been here a lot -- and by the way, when I get elected, if I get elected, I'm coming back, Tom. Look, in these final days, you've got to -- we've got to keep our sense of empowerment here, a sense of optimism, what we can do together. But I know it's hard. More than 225,000 people -- I think it's 229 as I speak, have already lost their lives to COVID-19, 2,000 here in Wisconsin, 600 here in Milwaukee County, each one immortalized by an empty chair this morning at breakfast, or tonight at dinner, an empty chair at McArthur Square.

Joe Biden

00:05:12 - 00:05:36 ()

And now, folks are getting hit by a new big wave of infections across the country. This week, Wisconsin, like other states, set a new record for daily cases. Hospitals are running short on beds, just had to open a field hospital. That's what we're facing. We have now hit nine million cases in the United States of America.

Joe Biden

00:05:36 - 00:06:07 ()

We make up 4 percent of the world's population. We have 20 percent of the world's deaths. Nine million new cases nationwide. Another tragic milestone. Millions of people out of work, on the edge, and they can't see the light. They're not sure how dark it's going to remain. Wisconsin is down 20,000 manufacturing jobs, even since this pandemic began.

Joe Biden

00:06:07 - 00:06:28 ()

And the thing that bothers me the most, was the president who gave up. over the weekend, his chief of staff said what we knew, quote, "We're not going to control the pandemic," end of quote, we're not going to control the pandemic. Yet last week, when I debated the president, he said, quote, "We're rounding the corner.

Joe Biden

00:06:28 - 00:06:55 ()

It's going away. We're learning to live with it." You may remember what I said -- it may of been viewed as harsh by some. I told him, "We're not learning to live with it. You're asking us to learn to die with it." As people continue to die, it's estimated that over 200,000 more people will die between now and the end of the year, by the leading experts who haven't been wrong yet.

Joe Biden

00:06:55 - 00:07:25 ()

You know -- did you hear what he said today? He said today at a rally, that our doctors are the problem, because they're putting their lives on the line, busting their necks. He said they're making up deaths from COVID-19 because they get more money. They're making up deaths. People aren't really dying from COVID, they're dying from other things, but they're saying it's COVID to make the numbers go up.

Joe Biden

00:07:25 - 00:08:04 ()

My lord. By the way, is Monica Watley here? Monica is an ICU nurse. I spent some time with Monica on the phone and -- and her two kids. And Monica told me what my son-in-law who is a doc in Philly told me, when this all began. While we're waiting for PPE, the masks and the gowns, and all the gear, so many docs, so many nurses, so many first responders, after they took -- did their job were afraid to go home, because they'd take it home -- the virus home to their children.

Joe Biden

00:08:04 - 00:08:28 ()

Monica told me how her husband would wait in the garage so she could change and put on a bathrobe before she went in the house and showered. So many people, over a thousand Monicas, have given their lives trying to save other lives. And this guy says that they're making it up because they want to make more money.

Joe Biden

00:08:28 - 00:08:47 ()

Doctors and nurse go today -- go to work every single day, and Donald Trump should stop attacking them and start doing his job. This is the same man who told us, when we were told when he was told about four weeks ago -- three, four weeks ago, that we were losing a thousand lives a day. Remember what he said?

Joe Biden

00:08:47 - 00:09:12 ()

He said, "It is what it is." Isn't that useful? It is what it is. Well it is what it is because he is who he is. That's the problem. Donald Trump waived the white flag, surrendered to the virus. But the American people don't give up, we don't give in. Unlike Donald Trump, we're not going to surrender to this virus.

Joe Biden

00:09:12 - 00:09:45 ()

We're simply not going to surrender. Look, I put in place a plan with this pandemic responsibly. I set it up back in May, and then again in June, and in July. The way we can bring this country together around testing, tracing, masking. It's estimated that -- by leading doctors in America that if we just wore these masks for the remainder of this calendar year, we could save up to another 100,000 lives.

Joe Biden

00:09:45 - 00:10:15 ()

Dr. Fauci, who's been not treated very well by the president. He's been with three other presidents in the same role, one of the most-respected guys in the world. He's called for a mask mandate. This isn't a political statement of us wearing these masks. For God's sake it's a patriotic duty. The reason you're wearing the mask -- Is not to save yourself but to save your neighbor, the person across from you.

Joe Biden

00:10:15 - 00:10:38 ()

The person who you're next to. But still, Donald Trump refuses to listen to the science. He's politicized the race for a vaccine as well. Instead of planning for its safe, equitable, and free distribution what's he doing? He's talking about things that are just not even in the realm of possibility. We'll have this by September.

Joe Biden

00:10:38 - 00:11:08 ()

We'll have it by -- it goes on. Look, folks, he refused to bring leaders by the way of both parties together. You know -- the House of Representatives -- Gwen can tell you -- has already passed three major pieces of legislation. Two CARES Act and then the HEROES Act. Provides all the money that is necessary to safely open schools and businesses and do it in a way that they can stay open.

Joe Biden

00:11:08 - 00:11:33 ()

But it costs money. Look at all the people who've gone out of business -- all the small businesses. We know how to open business -- we know how to do it safely. But it costs -- to open our schools nationwide it's estimated it'll cost $200 billion to do it safely. To provide everybody with the PPE, provide everybody -- change the ventilation systems, make sure you have -- you have separators.

Joe Biden

00:11:33 - 00:12:00 ()

Make sure you are in a position where we have the sanitary conditions and are wiped down. Smaller classes, more teachers. But what do we do if the money's already been there? They've already passed it. What's happened? The president hasn't got out of his golf bunker in the -- his golf course in the summer or the bunker in the White House since then to bring people together.

Joe Biden

00:12:00 - 00:12:22 ()

Look, find anybody Democrat or Republican who's served in the Congress, the Senate, the House. Ask them can they ever remember a time when there's been a national crisis -- and this is a national crisis -- that the president hasn't brought them all together and said we're staying here till we fix this. We're gonna work it out.

Joe Biden

00:12:22 - 00:12:42 ()

He hasn't even talked to you all. He's -- look, folks. We're gonna bring the Republicans and Democrats together, deliver economic relief for working families and schools and businesses. I promise you. I know how to do this. As I said before, I'm not gonna shut down the economy. I'm gonna shut down the virus.

Joe Biden

00:12:42 - 00:13:07 ()

Look, Donald herit -- Donald Trump inherited a strong economy from Barack and me, but he squandered that economy just like he squandered everything he's inherited. Frankly, I've dealt with guys like Trump my whole life. Guys who think they're better than you 'cause they have a lot of money, look down on you 'cause they live in a better home.

Joe Biden

00:13:07 - 00:13:37 ()

Well tell you what, we understand. We understand how this works. Folks, the people who built this country weren't Wall Street and investment bankers and CEOs. They're hardworking Americans, middle-class folks, working-class folks who built the middle class. And unions built the middle class. Look, we know -- we know as Gwen said, we can build back better.

Joe Biden

00:13:37 - 00:13:58 ()

With an economy that rewards work not wealth. Right now, it rewards wealth, not work. We can do it without raising taxes on any one working person in the middle class. I give you my word as a Biden, if you make less than $400,000 -- if I'm elected president -- you're not gonna see a penny of your taxes go up.

Joe Biden

00:13:58 - 00:14:26 ()

Not a penny. He keeps lying about my plan. But I'll tell you what I'm gonna ask the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations -- by the way 91 of the Fortune 500 companies pay no tax at all. Zero. Zero tax. And they make billions of dollars. Folks, it's about time people start paying their fair share.

Joe Biden

00:14:26 - 00:14:56 ()

It's not a punishment. Pay your fair share. Why should a firefighter, why should a sheriff, why should a cop, why should an educator, why should a nurse pay a higher tax rate -- which you do -- than they pay? You do that. They -- you pay a higher tax rate. And by the way, why should you pay more taxes than Donald Trump? 750 bucks.

Joe Biden

00:14:56 - 00:15:19 ()

This guy loves talking about corruption. I've released 22 years of my tax returns. You can go online and see them. Well guess what? He hasn't released one single year of his tax returns. What the hell is he hiding? What's in there? You know -- working families and middle class people you need help -- they need help.

Joe Biden

00:15:19 - 00:15:44 ()

Particularly first-term home buyers. Being able to pay for healthcare premiums, childcare, care for aging loved ones. Just to get a new hot water heater -- I don't know about you but the kitchen tables I was raised around you're sitting there and it's -- I can hear my dad now. Well we can't get those four new tires, think you're gonna have to ride on those bald tires a little while longer till we get by next month.

Joe Biden

00:15:44 - 00:16:29 ()

When that hot-water heater goes out what are we gonna do? Who's gonna tell her she can't go back to the community college because owe them money? They're the conversations taking place all across America today. And what's Trump trying to do? Raise your costs -- the standard of living. He's gonna be in the Supreme Court -- even if we win he'll still be in the Supreme Court in nine days -- or ten days -- asking the Supreme Court with their new Justice who was put on the court for the purpose of destroying the Affordable Care Act to rip it out root and branch, eliminate it all.

Joe Biden

00:16:29 - 00:16:54 ()

If they get their way 100 million Americans will lose protections for preexisting conditions, including 2.5 million Wisconsinites. 2.5 -- so if you have diabetes, you ever had cancer, you ever have brea -- whatever it is -- whatever your preexisting condition. You won't be able to afford it. Because they're gonna jack up the price beyond your capacity.

Joe Biden

00:16:54 - 00:17:18 ()

Women will once again -- once again be charged more for the same healthcare than a man is charged for just because they're a woman. People forget that that's what it was before we passed the Affordable Care Act. Look, Donald Trump thinks healthcare is a privilege. I think it's a right people should have.

Joe Biden

00:17:18 - 00:17:45 ()

If we all get out and vote we'll not only restore Obamacare but we'll strengthen and build on it. So you can keep your private insurance or you can choose a Medicare-like option that will add to Obamacare which we tried -- which we wanted to do the first time and couldn't get the votes. We'll increase subsidies to lower your premiums and deductibles, out-of-pocket spending, and surprise billings.

Joe Biden

00:17:45 - 00:18:05 ()

And we will reduce the cost of prescriptions by 60 percent. I'm not making that up. That comes from saying we're gonna insist -- and we have the votes to do it in this next election -- that Medicare can negotiate with the drug companies to say how much they're gonna willing to pay for whatever drug they have.

Joe Biden

00:18:05 - 00:18:32 ()

Look, folks, we're gonna make sure we keep the protections for people with preexisting conditions. Meanwhile Social Security -- the actuary of Social Security has said if Donald Trump gets reelected he says he's gonna change Social Security. Based on the change he wants to make the actuary at Social Security said Social Security will be bankrupt by 2023. I'm not making this stuff up.

Joe Biden

00:18:32 - 00:19:06 ()

It's real. Folks, I'm gonna protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. And guess what? He's not gonna be able to do it because we're gonna win this election. Look, let's not forget how weak Donald Trump has been and chaotic. He talks about trade policy. My God, what a disaster he's been. Trump's trade policy has decimated -- devastated the Wisconsin dairy industry.

Joe Biden

00:19:06 - 00:19:57 ()

In 2017 to 2019 Wisconsin lost 15 percent of its dairy farms and last year Wisconsin lost more dairy farms than any state in the nation. Since the start of the trade war, Wisconsin has seen mass layoffs surge by 25 percent. And even before COVID hit, Wisconsin saw big declines in manufacturing jobs. After Trump rolled out his irresponsible tax giveaways, Harley Davidson slashed 800 manufacturing jobs, repurchased almost $700 million of its own stock so the corporate heads could get a -- make a lot more money. And none of it went to the employees, and then shifted some of his production overseas.

Joe Biden

00:19:57 - 00:20:23 ()

So much for helping. Look, my policies -- right now, by the way, the deficit with China is higher than it was in our administration. Look, at the end of the Trump tax loopholes that incentivized companies to ship jobs overseas. These new rules -- these new laws that just got passed, for real. Adds 10 percent -- I'm going to add a 10 percent surtax to any company that shifts jobs overseas.

Joe Biden

00:20:23 - 00:20:47 ()

And companies that invest in strengthening American manufacturing, or bring jobs back home, I'm going to offer a 10 percent tax credit. And by the way, the president of the United States awards over $600 billion in contracts a year for our military, for all the things we build, federal buildings. Well, it's not a violation of any trade law.

Joe Biden

00:20:47 - 00:21:14 ()

No one's done it, but I promise you I'm going to do it. Not a single -- not a single solitary contract will be awarded, unless all the products used by that contractor are made in America, all of them. Right here in America. And by the way, when I talk about my economic plan, it's not some liberal think tank that talks about how good it is.

Joe Biden

00:21:14 - 00:21:43 ()

Moody's and Wall Street major firms pointed out, after looking at my plan for an economy and his, that we will create 18.6 million jobs under the Biden plan, a trillion dollars more in GDP than Trump. Folks, look, the fact is, that we're now in a situation where this president is in a position that he doesn't know what he's doing.

Joe Biden

00:21:43 - 00:22:08 ()

If you've notice -- if you've noticed what Donald Trump's spent a lot of time doing, he's spent a lot of time rolling out irresponsible corporate tax cuts in the meantime. Do you realize that during this pandemic, the billionaires in America -- billionaires, they're all listed, have made over $300 billion more?

Joe Biden

00:22:08 - 00:22:34 ()

Three hundred billion dollars more. How about you guys? Y'all are doing great, right? You got all that money. Look, folks, we're in a situation where the president now finds himself -- the thing that bothers me most about all he's done, is the way he talks about our military being "suckers" and "losers." Think about this, a lot of you women and men served in the military.

Joe Biden

00:22:34 - 00:22:56 ()

A lot of us constituents served. My son Beau gave up the attorney general's job in the state of Delaware to volunteer to go to Iraq for a year. He won the Bronze Star, the Conspicuous Service Medal. He came home with cancer after being near -- he came home anyway; he was given months to live. And guess what?

Joe Biden

00:22:56 - 00:23:17 ()

He wasn't a loser. He wasn't a sucker. He was a patriot, just like your sons and daughters, your parents and grandparents. Look, folks, if you ever wonder -- you know, Trump keeps talking about how strong he is. He's strong, and you have the rest of the nations listening to him. Everybody's afraid of him.

Joe Biden

00:23:17 - 00:23:45 ()

Well, let me tell you what, he's the first president that I'm aware of in American history that six generals, including his former chief of staff, six of them, left, resigned, and said he wasn't fit to be commander-in-chief. General Stanley McChrystal, Special Operations Commander -- Command. He's the guy who oversaw the Bin Laden raid.

Joe Biden

00:23:45 - 00:24:21 ()

Bill McRaven, and 22 -- he -- he oversaw. He was a SEAL, he was head of the SEALs, and 22 four-stars have endorsed me, saying they trust me to be the next commander-in-chief for the United States military. Folks, it's about respect. It's about support. And that's why The Military Times -- which his staff tried to wipe out -- Military Times just wrote an article saying more active-duty troops support Biden than Trump.

Joe Biden

00:24:21 - 00:24:45 ()

So much for the guy who talks about what a tough guy he is and why everybody listens to him. Look, that's why we have to support the military, and we have to make sure we considerably invest more, which I can't -- don't have to take the time to talk to you tonight about, but invest significantly more in dealing with the Veterans Administration.

Joe Biden

00:24:45 - 00:25:09 ()

And while Donald Trump fails to condemn white supremacy, we can vote to deliver racial justice. Folks, a season of protests has broken out all over this nation, and protesting is not burning and looting and violence. That must never be tolerated and won't; that's not protesting. But those protests are cries for justice.

Joe Biden

00:25:09 - 00:25:35 ()

The names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, they're not going to soon be forgotten. Not by me, not by us, not by this country. And we have to vote to meet the challenge of climate crisis as well. More frequent extreme. weather -- literally, the planet's at stake. We're told the number of years before it's irreversible is -- is getting narrower and narrower.

Joe Biden

00:25:35 - 00:26:03 ()

The west is on fire. More forest land has been burned to the ground than the entire square miles of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. The Midwest is flooding. Here in Wisconsin, extreme weather incurs big costs for your infrastructure. Lake Michigan set a record high this past January. And in the south and east, hurricanes are more severe, oceans are rising.

Joe Biden

00:26:03 - 00:26:33 ()

My state's only three-feet above sea level, literally. People are worried what happens if we don't change this. Folks, Donald Trump this that when you say climate change, he says "hoax." Well, this stable genius, as he calls himself, also thinks that wind power causes cancer. The way to stop hurricanes coming across the warm Atlantic from Africa, is to maybe drop a nuclear bomb on them.

Joe Biden

00:26:33 - 00:27:00 ()

The same stable genius said the problem we had in the Revolutionary War, we didn't have enough -- we didn't have enough airports, in the Revolutionary War. God save the -- anyway. Look, when I hear climate change, I think the health of our children, the security of the planet, and I also think it creates jobs, jobs here in Wisconsin and all across the country.

Joe Biden

00:27:00 - 00:27:29 ()

Folks, combating climate change means saving the planet, protecting our health, and creating millions of good-paying jobs, union jobs, right here in Milwaukee and all across America. We can change the path we're on, but we have to act now, because we can't afford four more years of Donald Trump. This election, I promise you, is going to -- your grandkids are going to write about how it set the path for at least a generation, here in America.

Joe Biden

00:27:29 - 00:28:03 ()

You know, in 2008 and 2012 we came to y'all, Barack and me, and we asked for your help. You helped us. And each day we were in office, we worked for you and the entire country. I'm going to do that again. My 2020 campaign is a broad coalition. We welcome Democrats and Republicans, and independents. I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I'm going to govern as an American president.

Joe Biden

00:28:03 - 00:28:29 ()

There will be no blue states or red states, just the United States. I'll work as hard for those who vote against me as those who voted for me, because that's what a president's supposed to do. The duty to care, the duty to care for everyone. Look, you too have a sacred duty, to vote. It matters. Wisconsin matters.

Joe Biden

00:28:29 - 00:29:21 ()

So if you haven't already, and most of you probably have, make a plan, vote. Get out to vote. If you've already voted, get your mom, dad, brother, sister, neighbor, get them to vote. Go to iwillvote.com/wi. You've got to get it done to make sure everyone knows where to vote, when to vote. Look, a press article yesterday -- speaking of Donald Trump -- two days ago, actually, said, and I quote, "Never before in modern presidential politics has a candidate been so reliant on wide-scale efforts to suppress the vote as Donald Trump." So let's be careful, here.

Joe Biden

00:29:21 - 00:29:53 ()

Guess what? He's not going to be able to stop us, not at all. As I said, he will not silence over 85 million people who have already voted. They've had enough. People are turning out in droves. Waiting three, four, five, six hours in other states, just to vote. Let me conclude by saying, I'll never forget a phrase used by President Kennedy, when he decided to send us to the moon -- get to the moon.

Joe Biden

00:29:53 - 00:30:18 ()

He said when asked why he said he re -- we refuse to postpone. We're the United States of America. We refuse to postpone the incredible opportunities available to the American people. I refuse to postpone the enormous possibilities we have. I've been around a while. But I've never been more optimistic about America's chances than I am today.

Joe Biden

00:30:18 - 00:30:45 ()

I really mean it. There's nothing beyond our capacity. Nothing. There's no limit to what America can do. We're the only country in the history of the world that's come out of every crisis stronger than when we went in. The only thing that can tear America apart is America itself. And that's exactly what Donald Trump has been doing from the beginning of his campaign last time out.

Joe Biden

00:30:45 - 00:31:17 ()

Dividing America. Pitting Americans against one another based on race, gender, religious, national origin, ethnicity. It's wrong. That's not who we are. Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. Let's let him know who we are -- who we are in the last four days. We choose hope over fear. Unity over division. Science over fiction.

Joe Biden

00:31:17 - 00:31:49 ()

And yes, truth over lies. So folks, it's time to stand up and take back our democracy. We can do this. We can better -- we'll be better than we've been. We can be who we want to be at our best. The United States of America. I promise you we can do this. You help me get there, I promise you I'll take responsibility, when I make a mistake I'll acknowledge it.

Joe Biden

00:31:49 - 00:32:04 ()

But I will take responsibility and I won't let you down. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you for your patience. Thank you, thank you, thank you.