Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | Wilmington, DE

5:46 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  (Via teleconference.)  Julie, if I didn’t have COVID, I’d be sitting there with you — standing there with you.  I — I’m so proud of what you’ve all done.  (Applause.)  And — but this COVID has been keeping me out of — out of people’s hair for the next three or four days. 

But I’m going to be on the road, and I’m not going anywhere.  I’m going — it’s going — it’s kept me away a little bit, but, you know, I want people to remember that what we have done has been incredible, and we get — so much more we’re going to get done.

And so, I want to say hello to Kamala if she can hear me.  I know she’s going to be speaking shortly.  And I want to say to the team: Embrace her.  She’s the best.  I wanted to call today to thank everybody — (applause) — everybody in this effort. 

I know yesterday’s news is surprising and it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do.  It’s — I know it’s hard because you’ve poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination and then go on to win the — win the — the presidency.

But, you know, you’re an amazing team.  But we’ve got a great, great — I think we made the right decision.  I know how hard you’ve worked, how many sacrifices you’ve made.  And so many of you — so many of you uprooted your lives for me and the kind of commitment few people make for anything these days, but you made it. 

And I’ve been honored and humbled.  I mean this sinc- — from the bottom of my heart — my word as a Biden — that for all you’ve done for me and my family. 

And you — we built the best campaign and organ- — organization in history.  I’ve been doing this — I ki- — I  always kid and say I know I’m only 40, but — (laughter) — I’ve been around a long time.  I don’t know of a better campaign organization, grassroots campaign.

You know, we have over 230 offices opened, we have over 2,000 paid staff, and we have literally several thousand volunteers on a regular basis — thousands of them.  And they’ve been relentless and tireless in reaching out and contacting voters. 

The leadership of this campaign has been amazing: Jen O’Malley Dillon, Julie, Quentin, Michael Tyler, Rob Flaherty, Rufus on raising money, and so many more.  You built this team, you brought them togeth- — you brought us together, you’ve inspired them, and — and you’ve done what leaders do.

Now — now we got to — you know, the name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all.  (Applause.)  And, by the way, I’m not going anywhere.  I’m going to be out there on the campaign with her, with Kamala.  I’m going to be working like hell both as a sitting president, getting legislation passed, as well as in campaigning.

You know, what — we still need to save this democracy.  And Strump — Trump is still a danger to the community, he’s a danger to the nation.  And just — just ask my foreign policy colleagues, my counterparts, and other people around the world and at home.

Look, so I’m hoping you’ll give every bit of your heart and soul that you gave to me to Kamala.  And — and I want you to know: I won’t be on the ticket, but I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged.  I’ve got six months left of my presidency, and I’m determined to get as much done as I possibly can, both foreign policy and domestic policy; keep lowering costs for families; continue to speak out on guns and childcare, eldercare, prescription drugs, and climate. 

Climate still is the existential threat that we face, and we have — if we don’t — if we don’t win this thing, it’s all in jeopardy. 

And we got to keep working for an end to the war in Gaza.  I’ll be working very closely with the — with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end and the Middle East peace and get all those hostages home.  I think we’re on a verge of being able to do that.

And we got to keep our alliances together.  It’s critically important.  It took a while for me to build these alliances.  Most of these are — my colleagues have acknowledged that.  But it’s critically, critically important for our safety and security.

And I know I’ll be doing whatever Kamala wants me or needs me to do in addition. 

So, let me be real clear.  We’re still fighting in this fight together.  I’m not going anywhere.  And I want you to know I’ve always — you’ve always had my back, and I promise you I will always have your back.  And I’m anxious to — for you all to hear from Kamala.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you.  Julie, you’re the best.  (Applause.)

MS. CHÁVEZ RODRÍGUEZ:  Well, thank you so much, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  I — I’m sticking around.  I’m going to listen.

MS. CHÁVEZ RODRÍGUEZ:  All right.  Thank you so much, Mr. President, again, for taking time to join our call today. 

And, you know, as the president said, we are full steam ahead in supporting the vice president, and we are seeing incredible enthusiasm already from our supporters.  From Democratic governors to senators to House members to mayors to folks across the country, you know, our Democratic Party is really uniting around our nominee.

And we just announced that we raised $81 million in 24 hours.  (Applause.) 

So, now I am incredibly honored to bring up the second gentleman to be able to mark a historic day with us today. 

With that, I’d like to introduce Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Doug!  Doug!  Doug!

THE SECOND GENTLEMAN:  Wow. 

Julie, thank you so much.  I’ve known Julie a long, long time, going back to her days working in Kamala’s Senate office.  And we put a lot of time together out on the road on the last campaign, and I can’t think of anyone better to be leading this campaign.  So, thank you so much.  You’re the best.  (Applause.)

I was just very emotional listening to President Biden just then.  I was emotional before I heard that because of — of who he is and what he represents — the dignity, the empathy. 

He’s had my back personally.  Some of my toughest moments as second gentleman.  One, leaving the career that I loved, it was always the president who came up to me and said, “Look, I know — I know, kid.  You’re a great lawyer.  I know this must have been tough.”  (Laughter.)  “But wh- — what better way to — to leave that than to support your wife, who you love so much, and your country that you love so much.”  (Applause.)

And it’s hard to believe it was about four years ago — the first time I came to Wilmington is when she got the call from — from President — then-candidate Biden to be on the ticket.  And we came here the next day.  We went to their home.  And he said with Dr. Biden, “Welcome to the family.  You’re now Bidens.” 

And they made us cookies.  And they called our kids.  And they called my parents.  This was day one four years ago.  And now look where we are now.

To have been able to serve as second gentleman with him as our president, Dr. Biden as our first lady — unbelievable.  (Applause.) 

And now — now I get to support my wife, Kamala Harris, running for president of the United States.  (Applause.) 

And let me tell you something: We are going to win this election.  (Applause.)  We’re on the right side of every single issue, and we have this team right here and thousands of others all around the country.

How do I know?  Because I’ve been traveling all around the country — (laughter) — and I’ve met them.  (Applause.)  We have an amazing team, you have done an amazing job, and you’re going to continue to do that so we can elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States of America.  (Applause.) 

So, let’s hear it for Kamala Harris.  (Applause.)

Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  The first second gentleman of the United States.  (Applause.)

Hi, every- — hey, Delaware.  (Laughs.)

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala! 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, guys.  Thank you.  Thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you all.  Thank you.

Can we just give it up again for my husband?  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)

It is so good to hear our president’s voice.  Joe, I know you’re still on the re- — on the call.  And we’ve been talking every day.  You probably — you guys heard it from Doug’s voice.  We love Joe and Jill.  We really do.  They truly are like family to us. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  So do we.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we d- — everybody here does.  (Applause.)  Everybody —

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s mutual.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughter.)  I knew you were still there.  You’re not going anywhere, Joe. 

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m watching you, kid.  I’m watching you, kid.  (Laughter.)  I love you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I love you, Joe.  Oh.  (Applause.)

So, Joe, I’m going to recognize some of the electeds who are here, and then I’m going to get back to you.  Hold on a second.  (Laughter.)

So, let me do, please, acknowledge some extraordinary national leaders who are also dear friends both to the president and to me. 

Governor John Carney, where are you?  (Applause.)  There you are.  And his wife, they are here. 

Senator Tom Carper, my former colleague — (applause) — and his wife is here. 

Chris Coons, my dear friend.  (Applause.) 

Attorney General Kathy Jennings.  (Applause.) 

The mayor is here.  Purzycki, where are you?  (Applause.)  There. 

And the next United States senator from the great state of Delaware is here, Lisa Blunt Rochester.  (Applause.)

And I know everyone here has seen these elected leaders in this very campaign office on a regular basis.  And I know Joe is so thankful to them for their lifelong friendship, but I want to thank them also because you guys have really been carrying some heavy water from the first days of our campaign.  So, thank you all.  This truly is a Delaware family.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

I want to thank Jen O’Malley Dillon.  Where is she, Jen?  (Applause.)  Jen — I’m going to talk about her in a minute.  Julie Chávez Rodríguez — (applause); Sheila Nix, there you are — (applause); and the entire team that is here.  I want to thank all of you and those who are joining from offices across our nation.

So, Doug and I wanted to stop by today to thank everybody and — and to express just what we know to be true: You all have been working so hard.  The people in this office have been working so hard.  And you have given so much of yourselves: long days and nights, what you are sacrificing in terms of the time you could be spending with other friends and other family, and you’re giving yourselves to our country because you love our country and you love Joe and you love me, and we know that.

And so, today, just right after Joe made his announcement, it was important for me to continue with his role of leadership in this office of, like him, who has said for many, many, many months, and I say it today: Thank you all so very much for what you are doing and what you will continue to do.  

So, let’s applaud the team here.  (Applause.)

And I know it’s been a roller coaster, and we’re all filled with so many mixed emotions about this.  I just have to say, I love Joe Biden.  I love Joe Biden, and I know we all do.  And we have so many darn good reasons for loving Joe Biden.  (Laughter.)  And I have full faith that this team is the team, will be the reason we win in November, you all who are here. 

And as Julie always says, and I will quote the great Julie, “We are one team, one fight” — “one team, one fight.”  And she’s been an extraordinary campaign manager.  She’s going to continue in this role and see us to victory in November.

And we are all here because we love our country — right? — and we believe in our foundational principles.  We believe in freedom and opportunity and justice, not for some but for all.  (Applause.) 

And so, we have 106 days until Election Day, and in that time, we have some hard work to do.  And as J.O.D. always reminds us, we can do hard things.  J.O.D. has been such an incredible leader of this team, and that is why I have just asked her to run my campaign, and she has accepted.  (Applause.)

And so, over the next 160 days, we are going to take our case to the American people, and we are going to win.  (Applause.)  We are going to win.

And so, now I’m getting back to you, Joe.  I will tell you all, it has been one of the greatest honors of my life, truly, to serve as vice president to our president, Joe Biden.  Joe’s legacy of accomplishment just over — a lifetime but just over the last three and a half years is unmatched in modern history.   In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office. 

Think about it.  And I know everyone here in the campaign, we have — we know — (laughter) — but — if we don’t know, we got a problem.  (Laughter.)  But I’m going to repeat some for those who might be guests at the moment.  (Laughter.)

Joe got the COVID-19 pandemic under control.  Remember those days?  He has created more than 15 million new jobs.  He brought together Republicans and Democrats and passed historic legislation. 

And I’m going to tell you, I’m a firsthand witness to all this work.  I would sit with Joe in the Oval Office while he would bring members of both sides to — of the aisle and talk and listen and help them see what they may have in common and how we can actually work towards solutions.  And because of their confidence in Joe, these accomplishments occurred.

Joe has stood up for democracy at home, and he has stood up for democracy abroad, and he has always stood up for what he believes is right. 

And many of you may know I first came to know Joe through his son Beau.  Beau and I worked together as state attorneys general.  And back then, Beau would often tell me stories about his dad, and he would talk about the kind of father and the kind of man that Joe Biden is.  And he would talk about the qualities of his father.  And the qualities that — that Beau revered the most are the same qualities that I see every day in our president: his honesty; his integrity; his commitment to his faith and his family; his big, big heart; and his deep love of our country.

And I don’t need to tell you all.  You know Joe’s background, right?  I mean, he grew up in a middle-class family in Scranton.  And he has never forgotten where he comes from. 

And so, again, I am a firsthand witness from being with him in the Oval Office to the Situation Room and seeing him on the global stage with world leaders.  President Joe Biden fights for the American people, and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.  (Applause.)

Joe, are you watching?  Do you hear this clapping?  (Laughs.)  Can you see it?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m watching.  (Laughter.)  I’m watching. 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I knew it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you, Joe!

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Joe!  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  You — you’re the best, kid.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And let us be very clear, Joe is not done — far from it.  (Applause.)  He knows there is still more work to do, and our nation will continue to praise his bold and visionary leadership as president. 

Thank you, Joe.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And it is my great honor to have Joe’s endorsement in this race.  (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  You sure do.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And it is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win.  (Applause.)

So, in the days and weeks ahead, I, together with you, will do everything in my power to unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation, and to win this election. 

You know, as many of you know, before I was elected as vice president, before I was elected as United States senator, I was the elected attorney general, as I’ve mentioned, of California.  And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor.

In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — (laughter and applause) — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.  So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.  (Applause.) 

And in this campaign, I will proudly — I will proudly put my record against his.  (Applause.) 

As a young prosecutor, when I was in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office in California, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse.  Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse.

As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country’s largest for-profit colleges and put it out of business.  Donald Trump ran a for-profit college, Trump University, that was forced to pay $25 million to the students it scammed.  (Applause.)

As district attorney, to go after polluters, I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation.  (Applause.)  Donald Trump stood in Mar-a-Lago and told Big Oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo — 

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  During — during the foreclosure crisis, I took on the big Wall Street banks and won $20 billion for California families — (applause) — holding those banks accountable for fraud.  Donald Trump was just found guilty of 34 counts of fraud. 

But make no mistake, all of that being said, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump.  There is more to this campaign than that. 

Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country — two different visions for the future of our country: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.

Donald Trump wants to take our country backward to a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights. 

But we believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans.  (Applause.) 

We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead.  (Applause.) 

We believe in a future where no child has to grow up in poverty; where every person can buy a home, start a family, and build wealth; and where every person has access to paid family leave and affordable childcare.  (Applause.) 

That’s the future we see.

Together, we fight to build a nation where every person has affordable health care — (applause); where every worker is paid fairly; and where every senior can retire with dignity. 

All of this is to say building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.  (Applause.)  Because we here know, when our middle class is strong, America is strong. 

And we know that’s not the future Donald Trump is fighting for.  He and his —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughter.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  He and his extreme Project 2025 will weaken the middle class and bring us backward — please do note that — back to the failed trickle-down policies that gave huge  tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and made working families pay the cost; back to policies that put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block; back to policies that treat health care as only a privilege for the wealthy, instead of what we all know it should be, which is a right for every American.

America has tried these economic policies before.  They do not lead to prosperity.  They lead to inequity and economic injustice, and we are not going back.  We are not going back.  (Applause.)  They’re not taking us back.

Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedom.  Generations of Americans before us have led the fight for freedom, from our founders to our framers, to the abolitionists and the suffragettes, to the Freedom Riders and farmworkers. 

And now I say, team, the baton is in our hands.  We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote.  We who are committed to fight to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.  (Applause.)

We who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence, and that’s why we will work to pass universal background checks, red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban.  (Applause.)

We who will fight for reproductive freedom, knowing if Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state.  But we are not going to let that happen.  (Applause.)

It is this team here that is going to help in this November to elect a majority of members of the United States Congress who agree the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.  (Applause.)

And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We the people!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Indeed.  We the people.  (Laughter.)

So, ultimately, to all the friends here, I say: In this election, we know we each face a question.  What kind of country do we want to live in: a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  You all are here because you, as leaders, know we each — including our neighbors and our friends and our family, we each, as Americans, have the power to answer that question.  That’s the beauty of it — the power of the people.  We each have the ability to answer that question.

So, in the next 106 days, we have work to do.  We have doors to knock on.  (Applause.)  We have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win.  (Applause.)

So, are you ready to get to work?  (Applause.)

Do we believe in freedom?  (Applause.)

Do we believe in opportunity?  (Applause.)

Do we believe in the promise of America?  (Applause.) 

And are we willing to fight for it?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And when we fight —

AUDIENCE:  We win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we win.  (Applause.)

God bless you all.  And God bless the United States of America and Joe Biden.  (Applause.)

6:14 P.M. EDT