Remarks by Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz at a Campaign Event in Philadelphia, PA
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5:58 P.M. EDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We’re doing this! (Applause.) Oh! (Applause.) We’re doing this. (Applause.) We’re doing this. (Applause.)
Good evening, Philadelphia! (Applause.) Good evening. (Applause.) Good evening, good evening. (Laughs.) (Applause.) Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening.
Oh, it is good to be back in Pennsylvania. (Applause.)
So, let me say, on behalf of myself and the first second gentleman of the United States, my husband, Doug Emhoff — (applause) — thank you for the warm welcome. (Applause.)
And let me just say, it’s good to be here with all of the friends, all of the leaders who are here. I want to thank former Governor Ed Rendell — (applause); Senator Bob Casey, who we will reelect this November — (applause); Senator John Fetterman — (applause); Mayor Cherelle Parker — (applause); and Chairman Jaime Harrison. (Applause.)
And it is so good to be here with your incredible governor, Josh Shapiro. (Applause.) And I will say Josh is a dear, dear friend and an extraordinary leader. He and I have been spending a lot of time together over the years. And I told Josh, “Look, I am so, so invested in our friendship, in doing this together.” Because together, with Josh Shapiro, we will win Pennsylvania. (Applause.) We will win Pennsylvania.
And I thank you, Josh. I thank you. (Applause.)
So — so, Philadelphia, I launched my campaign for the president of the United States a mere two weeks ago. (Applause.) And it’s — it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. (Laughter.)
And just last night, the delegates to the Democratic National Convention finished voting, and so — (applause) — I stand — I stand before you today to proudly announce I am now officially the Democratic nominee for president of the United States. (Applause.)
And so, now we got some work to do. We need to move to the general election and win that. (Applause.)
And to all the friends, listen, we also need to level set. We are the underdogs in this race, but we have the momentum, and I know exactly what we are up against. (Applause.)
Now, many of you know, before I was elected vice president or elected a United States senator, I was an elected attorney general and, before that, elected district attorney. (Applause.) And before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. (Applause.)
So, in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — (applause): predators who abused women —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — fraudsters who scammed consumers —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, hear me when I say — (applause) — I know Donald Trump’s type. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So — but let —
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let me — let me just say.
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let me say. Hold on.
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hold on, hold on.
This campaign, our campaign is not just a fight against Donald Trump. (Applause.) Our campaign, this campaign is a fight for the future. (Applause.) It’s a fight for the future.
And, Pennsylvania, we fight for a future with affordable housing, affordable health care, affordable childcare, paid leave. (Applause.) We fight for a future where we build a broad-based economy where every American has the opportunity to own a home, to start a business, and to build wealth. (Applause.)
We fight for a future where we bring down prices that are still too high and lower the cost of living for American families — (applause) — so that they have the chance not just to get by but to get ahead. (Applause.)
We fight for a future where we defend our most fundamental freedoms: the freedom to vote — (applause); the freedom to be safe from gun violence — (applause); the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride — (applause); and the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body not having her government tell her what to do. (Applause.)
So —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I love you too.
So, here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future — (applause) — a leader who will help unite our nation and move us forward; a fighter for the middle class; a patriot who believes, as I do, in the extraordinary promise of America — (applause) — a promise — a promise of freedom, opportunity, and justice not just for some but for all. (Applause.)
So, Pennsylvania, I’m here today because I found such a leader: Governor Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota. (Applause.)
So, to those who know him best — to those who know him best, Tim is — is more than a governor. To his wife, Gwen, he is a husband. To his kids, Hope and Gus, he is a dad. To his fellow veterans, he is Sergeant Major Walz. (Applause.) To the people — to the people of Southern Minnesota, for 12 years, he was Congressman. (Applause.) To his former high school students, he was Mr. Walz. (Applause.) And to his former high school football players, he was Coach — (applause) — Coach — Coach.
And in 91 days — (applause) — the nation will know Coach Walz by another name: vice president of the United States. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Tim! Tim! Tim!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, America, for some folks, they’re just getting to know Coach Walz’s story. And I’ll tell you, he is the proud product of a middle-class family in rural Nebraska. (Applause.) He is a veteran who served our nation in uniform for more than two decades — (applause) — as a member of the Army National Guard, and he went to college on the G.I. Bill. (Applause.)
He is someone who, long before he entered politics, worked as a teacher. (Applause.) When Coach Walz and his wife, Gwen, moved from his native Nebraska to Minnesota nearly 30 years ago, they both took jobs at the local high school. (Applause.) Coach Walz taught social studies; Gwen taught English. (Applause.)
After school, Tim was the linebackers coach for the football team — (applause) — where I’ve heard the stories about he had a knack for using the game of football to teach life lessons. He saw the potential in kids who sometimes didn’t even see it in themselves. (Applause.)
Under those Friday night lights, Coach Walz motivated his players to believe they could achieve anything. And, together, they defied the odds — hear this out — going from a winless record to the school’s first-ever state championship. (Applause.) (Laughs.) Coach. Coach. A- —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And I’ll say and I’ll add, Tim wasn’t only a role model on the football field. Around that same time, Coach Walz was approached by a student in his social studies class. The young man was one of the first openly gay students at the school and was hoping to start a gay-straight alliance. At a time — (applause) — at a time when acceptance was difficult to find for LGBTQ students, Tim knew the signal that it would send to have a football coach get involved. (Applause.) Right?
So, he signed up to be the group’s faculty advisor. (Applause.) And as students have said, he made the school a safe place for everybody. (Applause.) In the high school yearbook, the students voted Coach Walz the, quote, “most inspiring faculty member.” (Applause.)
And as I think everyone here can see, Tim Walz was the kind of teacher and mentor that every child in America dreams of having — (applause) — and that every kid deserves; the kind of coach, because he’s the kind of person who makes people feel like they belong and then inspires them to dream big. And that’s the kind of vice president he will be. (Applause.) And that’s the kind of vice president America deserves. (Applause.)
So, it was Coach Walz’s students who actually helped him decide to run for office, and he served 12 years in Congress, representing a purple district, as he reached across the aisle to get things done.
He was the highest-ranking — (applause) — he was the highest-ranking enlisted man to ever serve in the United States Congress — (applause) — and the top Democrat on the Veterans Committee. (Applause.) And he was known as one of Capitol Hill’s best marksmen — (laughter) — winning a bipartisan sharpshooting contest year after year. (Applause.)
In Washington, Tim worked to raise the minimum wage — (applause); to protect the freedom of workers to join a union — (applause); and he cast one of the critical votes to pass the Affordable Care Act — (applause) — which, of course, gave health insurance to tens of millions of Americans.
And I’m going to tell you, when we win, Tim and I will continue to make the Affordable Care Act even stronger. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: When we win! When we win! When we win!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We will win. That’s right.
Now let’s talk about what we’re dealing with on the other side.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So, on that last topic, if Donald Trump gets the chance, he will end the Affordable Care Act —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — and take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions. You remember what that was like? Children with asthma, breast cancer survivors, grandparents with diabetes.
Well, Governor Walz and I will not let that happen — (applause) — because we believe health care should be a right and not just a privilege for those who can afford it. (Applause.)
As governor, Tim has continued to fight for working families. He secured paid leave for workers in Minnesota. (Applause.) And he refused — he refused, as governor, to allow any student in their public schools to go hungry — (applause) — so he made school breakfast and lunch free for every child. (Applause.)
And Tim Walz and I, we agree about many things, including when our middle class is strong, America is strong. (Applause.) And strengthening the middle class will be my defining goal as I am president of the United States. (Applause.)
So, Pennsylvania, ours is a fight for the future of the middle class and it is a fight for freedom. (Applause.) In this moment, we are witnessing a full-on attack against hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights. (Applause.)
Take reproductive freedom. Now think about this: Donald Trump said he wants to punish women.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And as a result of his actions, today in America one out of three women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban — one out of three.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Some of these bans go back to the 1800s, even before women had a right to vote. Think about that.
Well, Tim and I have a message for Trump and others who want to turn back the clock on our fundamental freedoms: We’re not going back. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not going back!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We’re not going back. We’re not going back.
AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not going back!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And so, let me say about Tim Walz, he has shown up to stand against these attacks long before he stood on the stage with me. After Roe was overturned, he was the first governor in the country to sign a new law that enshrined reproductive freedom as a fundamental right. (Applause.)
And with Tim Walz by my side, when I am president of the United States and we win majorities in the United States Congress, we will pass a bill to restore reproductive freedom, and I will proudly sign it into law. (Applause.)
Tim Walz has also defended the sacred freedom to vote. As governor — (applause) — as governor, he signed the most significant expansion of voting rights in Minnesota in over 50 years. (Applause.) And with Governor Walz’s help, when I am president, we are going to finally pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. (Applause.) We’re going to get it done.
So, Tim is a hunter and a gun owner who believes, as the majority of gun owners do, that we need reasonable gun safety laws in America. (Applause.) So, as governor, he expanded background checks and increased penalties for illegal firearm sales. (Applause.)
And together, when we win in November, we are finally going to pass universal background checks — (applause) — red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban. (Applause.)
Through his work, Tim, he — you know, the way I think about it, he really does shine a light on a brighter future that we can build together. In his state, he has been a model chief executive. And with his experience, I’m telling you, Tim Walz will be ready on day one. (Applause.)
In fact — in fact, when you compare his resume — (laughter) — shall we? — to Trump’s running mate, well — well — well, some might say it’s like — it’s like a matchup between the varsity team and the JV squad. (Applause.) (Laughs.)
So, Pennsylvania, ultimately, in this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? A country — a country of freedom — (applause) — compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And here’s the beauty of our democracy: We each have the power to answer that question. We each have the power to answer that question. (Applause.) The power is with the people. (Applause.)
We love our country, and I believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country. (Applause.) That — that is how we preserve the promise of America.
And after all, you know, the promise of America is what makes it possible for two middle-class kids — one a daughter of Oakland, California — (applause) — who was raised by a working mother; the other a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm — (applause) — it’s the promise of America, because only in America — only in America is it possible for them together to make it all the way to the White House. (Applause.)
Only in America. Only in America. Only in America.
AUDIENCE: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right.
AUDIENCE: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: That’s right. That’s right.
And so, Coach Walz and I may hail from different corners of our great country, but our values are the same. And we both believe in lifting people up, not knocking them down. (Applause.)
He and I, we both know the vast majority of people in our country have so much more in common than what separates them. (Applause.) When we look at folks, we see, in our fellow Americans, neighbors, not enemies — (applause) — not enemies.
And so, my promise to you is this. Our campaign will reach out to everyone, from red states to blue states — (applause) — from the heartland to the coasts; in rural, urban, suburban, and Tribal communities. (Applause.) We are running a campaign on behalf of all Americans. (Applause.) And when elected, we will govern on behalf of all Americans. (Applause.)
And so, with Tim Walz by my side and with all of you at our side — (applause) — let us fight for the promise of our future. (Applause.)
And with that, I ask: Pennsylvania, are you ready to make your voices heard? (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 ready to fight for it? (Applause.)
And when we fight —
AUDIENCE: We win!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — we win. (Applause.)
And now welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz. (Applause.)
GOVERNOR WALZ: Wow. (Applause.) Thank you. Wow.
Thank you, Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me but, maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy. (Applause.) I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug — this incredible journey.
And, Pennsylvania, I know you know this, but, my God, what a treasure you have in Josh Shapiro. (Applause.) Holy hell, can this guy bring the fire. He can bring the fire. This is a visionary leader. Also, I have to tell you, everybody in America knows, when you need a bridge fixed, call that guy. (Applause.)
And I think sometimes we forget and you see people a little one-dimensional, but seeing a guy who cares so deeply about his family, a man with compassion, vision — and I’ll have to tell you this; I know this from experience — there is no one you would rather go to a Springsteen concert in Jersey with than him — (laughter) — than that guy. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Bruce!
GOVERNOR WALZ: Bruce!
And I can’t wait for all of you and America to get to know my incredible wife, Gwen, a 29-year public school educator –(applause) — don’t ever underestimate teachers — (applause) — and our two beautiful kids, Hope and Gus.
I couldn’t be prouder to be on this ticket and to help Vice President Harris become what we all know is very, very good for us to think about: next president of the United States of America. (Applause.)
From her first day as a prosecutor, as a district attorney, attorney general of the great state of California — (applause) — a United States senator, and vice president of the United States — (applause) — Vice President Harris has fought on the side of the American people. (Applause.)
She took on the predators, she took on the fraudsters, she took down the transnational gangs, she stood up against powerful corporate interests, and she never hesitated to reach across the aisle if it meant improving people’s lives. (Applause.) And I want all of you to hold this and don’t ever underestimate the power of this: She does it all with a sense of joy. (Applause.)
I know a little something about that commitment to people. I was born in West Point, Nebraska. I lived in Butte, a small town of 400, where community was a way of life. Growing up, I spent the summers working on the family farm. My mom and dad taught us: Show generosity towards your neighbors and work for a common good. (Applause.)
My dad served in the Army during the Korean War, and with his encouragement, at 17, I joined the Army National Guard. (Applause.) For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation. (Applause.) The National Guard gave me purpose, it gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves, and just as it did for my dad and millions of others, the G.I. Bill gave me a shot at a college education. (Applause.)
My dad was a teacher; my brothers and sisters and I followed in their footsteps. (Applause.) Three out of four of us married teachers — (applause) — what we do. For nearly 20 years, I had the privilege of teaching high school social studies and coaching football — (applause) — including winning that state championship. (Laughs.) (Applause.) Don’t ever close the yearbook. Don’t ever.
But it was my students — they encouraged me to run for office. They saw in me what I was hoping to instill in them: a commitment of common good, a belief that one person can make a difference. So, in 2006 — (applause) — in 2006, I took a leap, and I ran for Congress. (Applause.) And because high school teachers are super optimistic, I was running in a district that had one Democrat since 1892. (Laughter.)
Well, my neighbors graced me with an opportunity to represent them in the United States House of Representatives. (Applause.) I’m proud of the work we did there together. I worked across the aisle on veterans issues, on agriculture, and on ways to grow rural economies. I learned the art of compromise without compromising my values. (Applause.)
And now as governor the great state of Minnesota, I bring those experiences to bear in tackling the challenges that are facing our great state. Minnesota’s strengths comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always being willing to lend a helping hand. Those are the same values I learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students. I took it to Congress and to the state capitol, and now Vice President Harris and I are running to take those very values to the White House. (Applause.)
Now, Donald Trump sees the world a little differently than us.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: First of all, he doesn’t know the first thing about service. (Applause.) He doesn’t have time for it because he’s too busy serving himself. (Applause.) Again and again and again, Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand. (Applause.) He mocks our laws, he sows chaos and division, and that’s to say nothing of his record as president. (Applause.)
He froze in the face of the COVID crisis, he drove our economy into the ground, and make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump. (Applause.) That’s not even counting the crimes he committed. (Applause.)
You know —
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
GOVERNOR WALZ: — some of us —
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
GOVERNOR WALZ: — some of us are —
AUDIENCE: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
GOVERNOR WALZ: Some of us — some of us in here are old enough to remember. I see you down there. (Laughter.) I see those old white guys. (Laughter.) Some of us are old enough to remember when it was Republicans who were talking about freedom. It turns out now what they meant was the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind your own damn business. (Applause.)
These guys are after my heart, chanting “Mind your own damn business.” That feels good, so thank you.
Look, that includes IVF, and this gets personal for me and my family. (Applause.) When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments, and I remember praying every night for a call for good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang, and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn’t worked. So, it wasn’t by chance that when we welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope. (Applause.)
When the vice president and I talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make your own health care decisions — (applause) — and for our children to be free to go to school without worrying they’ll be shot dead in their classrooms. (Applause.)
By the way, as you heard, I was one of the best shots in Congress. But in Minnesota, we believe in the Second Amendment, but we also believe in commonsense gun violence laws. (Applause.)
Vice President Harris’s idea of freedom is a ticket for education to be that ticket to the middle class, not crippling debt — (applause); air that’s clean, water that’s pure, communities that are safe — (applause); a place where we settle our political differences not through violence but with our votes. (Applause.) And that’s what this election is about: What direction will this country go in?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Freedom! (Applause.)
GOVERNOR WALZ: We’re not going back. Well, Donald Trump would damn sure take us backwards, let’s be clear about that.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: And don’t believe him when he plays dumb. He knows exactly what Project 2025 will do to restrict our freedoms — (applause) — to rig the economy to help the super-rich.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: If Trump gets a chance to return, he’s going to pick up exactly where he left off four years ago —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: — only this time it will be much, much worse: raising costs on middle-class family. He will repea- — repeal the Affordable Care Act, no doubt about it.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: He’ll gut Social Security and Medicare.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: And when somebody tells who they are, they — believe them. He said he would ban abortion across this country, and he’ll do it whether or not Congress is there or not.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: Donald Trump is not fighting for you or your family.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You are!
GOVERNOR WALZ: He never s- — he never sat at that kitchen table, like the one I grew up at, wondering how we were going to pay the bills. He sat at his country club up in Mar-a-Lago, wondering how he can cut taxes for his rich friends. (Applause.)
And I got to tell you, his running mate shares his dangerous and backward agenda for this country. (Applause.) J.D. Vance literally — literally wrote the foreword for the architect of the Project 2025 agenda.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
GOVERNOR WALZ: Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, J.D. studied at Yale — (laughter) — had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on. That’s not what Middle America is.
And I got to tell you, I can’t wait to debate the guy. (Applause.) That is if — if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up, so — (laughter). You see what I did there?
Look — (laughs) — I got to tell you — pointing out just an observation of mine that I — that I made. I just have to say it. You know it, you feel it: These guys are creepy and, yes, just weird as hell. That’s what you see. (Laughs.) (Applause.) That’s what you see.
So, you know what’s out there, so say it with me: We aren’t going back.
AUDIENCE: We aren’t going back!
GOVERNOR WALZ: We aren’t going back.
AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not going back!
GOVERNOR WALZ: We are not going back.
AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not going back!
GOVERNOR WALZ: So, we got 91 days. My God, that’s easy. (Laughter.) We’ll sleep when we’re dead. (Applause.)
Over those next 91 days and every day in the White House, I’ll have Vice President Harris’s back — every single day. (Applause.) And we’ll have yours. (Applause.)
You know how this works. We can’t do it alone. We need you, each and every one of you. (Applause.) Go over to KamalaHarris.com, get on board, because we need you.
Freedom to make our own choices — this leader — this compassionate, careful, joyous leader — believes in each and every one of you. (Applause.)
My God, you came here tonight to sit at the very top because you love this country and you’re not going back. (Applause.)
She believes in the opportunity for every single person to join the middle class. She believes in the promise of America.
We just got to fight. We just got to fight, because as soon-to-be-President Harris says, when we fight —
AUDIENCE: We win!
GOVERNOR WALZ: — we win. (Applause.)
Thank you, Philadelphia. Thank you, Vice President. God bless America. (Applause.)
END 6:49 P.M. EDT
