Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | Madison, WI
Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Madison, Wisconsin
6:09 P.M. CDT
THE VICE PRESIDENT: How are you? (Applause.) Aww. Good evening. Good evening, Wisconsin. (Applause.)
Aw, he’s sleeping.
And it’s great to be back in Madison. (Applause.) And you know I got some Madison cred, right? (Laughter and applause.)
Oh, thank you all. It really is great to be back. Thank you all for being here. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
And can we please thank Bill for fighting every day for the working people of America? (Applause.) And to everyone at Teamsters Joint Council 39, I am so honored and grateful for your endorsement. I will work so closely with you, as we always have, and we will win. (Applause.) And we will win. And we will win.
And it’s so great to be with all of the leaders who are here. Just — this is an — an auditorium full of leaders, including our dear friend and your governor, Tony Evers — (applause); Senator Tammy Baldwin, who you will reelect to the United States Senate — (applause); Representative Pocan — (applause); Mayor Rhodes-Conway. (Applause.)
And I have to give a special thanks to the mayor, because the last time I was in Madison, we went to the house where I lived when I was five years old here in Madison. (Applause.) So, many of you know — and my sister Maya is here. So, our parents taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Applause.) And so, we lived here for a period of time. So, every time I land, the governor says, “Welcome home.” (Laughs.)
So, thank you all to all the leaders who are here — elected leaders and community leaders and — and just neighborhood leaders, family leaders — all that you are, thank you. (Applause.)
So, here we are. All right. We got work to do. Forty-six days until the election. (Applause.) Forty-six days until the election. And what we know: This is going to be a tight race until the very end. So, let’s not pay too much attention to the polls because, let’s be clear, we are the underdog in this race and we have some hard work ahead of us.
But here’s the thing. We like hard work. (Applause.) We like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. (Applause.) And with your help, in November, we will win. We will win.
So, some of you might have seen the debate last week that I had with Donald Trump. (Applause.) It was fun.
And I talked about issues that matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living, investing in America’s small businesses, protecting reproductive freedom — (applause) — and keeping our nation safe and secure. (Applause.)
But that is not what we heard from Donald Trump.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Instead, it was the same old, tired show; the same old, tired playbook we’ve heard for years with no plan on how he would address the needs of the American people.
Well, folks, it’s time to turn the page. (Applause.) It’s time to turn the page. And America is ready to chart a new way forward. We are ready. (Applause.) We are ready.
We are ready for a new generation of leadership that is optimistic about what we can do together — (applause) — because we’re tired of all that division and hate they’re pushing. We here know the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. (Applause.)
And that’s what our campaign is about: understanding that this is a people-powered campaign — that this is a campaign about building community, building coalitions, reminding us all that we are all in this together and that we’re going be good and all right. (Applause.) We’re in this together.
Which is why Democrats, Republicans, and independents are supporting our campaign — (applause) — because they want a president — we want a president who works for all the American people, and I promise you that is the kind of president I will be. (Applause.) I promise that.
Now, many of you know my background. My entire career, I have fought for the people. As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them.
As attorney general of California, I took on the big banks and delivered $20 billion for middle-class families who faced foreclosure because of predatory lending practices. (Applause.) I stood up for veterans and students who were being scammed by the big for-profit colleges and for workers who were being cheated out of the wages they were due and for seniors facing elder abuse. (Applause.)
And as president, I will fight on behalf of all communities and all Americans, and together, we will build a brighter future for our nation. (Applause.) Together, we will build a future where we build what I call an “opportunity economy,” so every American has the opportunity to own a home, to build wealth, to start a small business. (Applause.)
And I’ll tell you, I love our small businesses. For the small-business leaders who are here, can you raise your hand? Our small-business leaders are extraordinary. (Applause.)
So, you know, growing up, before our mother could afford to buy a house, we lived in an apartment above a childcare center. It was owned by a woman by the name of Ms. Shelton, and she helped raise my sister Maya and me, because my mother worked long days and sometimes on weekends. We called Ms. Shelton our “second mother,” and she was a small-business owner.
So, from childhood, I have known the character and work ethic of our small-business owners, and I know small-business owners are the backbone of America’s economy — (applause) — which is why my plan offers a new way forward and will give a $50,000 tax deduction to help entrepreneurs start their small businesses. (Applause.)
I also know we need to build more housing in America. You know, my mother saved up for years, and when I was a teenager, she was finally able to buy her first home. I know what that dream is like. I know what it is like for people to work hard and to save up and have a dream that is about the dignity of their work and an investment in their future, the future of their family, an investment in the pride they so rightly deserve because of their hard work. (Applause.)
But right now, on the affordable housing issue, look, we have a shortage of housing in America, and it’s contributing to driving up prices. So, with my plan, we are going to cut red tape and work with the private sector to build 3 million new homes by the end of my first term — (applause) — and — and provide first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down payment assistance so they can just get their foot in the door. (Applause.)
Because, unlike my opponent, who was basically handed $400 million on a silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: — we know that most people need to just have the opportunity to actually get their foot in the door to achieve their dream and their aspirations. (Applause.)
We also need to lower the cost of living, because while our economy is doing well by many measures, prices for everyday necessities like groceries are still too high. You know it, and I know it.
So, I have a plan to lower costs on everything ranging from health care to groceries, including taking on corporate price gouging. (Applause.) And my plan includes giving a tax cut to 100 million Americans, including $6,000, by expanding the Child Tax Credit for the first year of a child’s life, to help young and new parents buy a car seat, a crib, baby clothes in that most significant phase of their development. (Applause.)
And all of this is to say, I will always put the middle class and working families first. I come from the middle class, and I have never forgotten where I come from, and I never will. (Applause.) And I never will.
Now, Donald Trump, well, he has a different plan. And in many ways — you’ve heard me say it before — he is an unserious man. (Laughter.) But the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious — extremely serious. (Applause.)
Just google Project 2025.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: By the way, can you believe they put that thing in writing? (Laughter.) I mean, they put it in writing, they had it bound, and they handed it out. (Laughter.)
And if you get your hands on it or just google it, let me tell you, it’s a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what he will do if he were elected president again.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Lock him up!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: If Donald Tru- — well, you know what? The courts will take care of that. Let’s take care of him in November. (Laughs.) (Applause.) We’ll take care of him in November. How about that? (Laughs.)
But if you look at what he’s up to, Donald Trump will give billionaires and big corporations massive tax cuts.
He intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And he wants to impose what I call a “Trump sales tax,” because here’s the thing: What he is proposing would be a 20 percent tax on everyday necessities — basic necessities, which economists estimate will cost most working families more than $4,000 a year extra. Think about that.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And on top of all of that, he intends to end the Affordable Care Act.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember, he tried 60 times when he was president. In fact, together with Tammy, I was a United States senator on the floor. I don’t know where she is right now, but she’ll remember, and we’ve talked about this. We were on the floor of the United States Senate in the middle of the night when one of those votes was up when they were trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.
And we were all standing around after we all voted to protect the Affordable Care Act. And we were all standing around, and then the big, wooden doors to the Senate well opened and in walked the late, great John McCain. (Applause.) Remember that? And he said, “No, you don’t.” He said, “No, you don’t.” (Applause.) Remember that?
But we were up against those kinds of attacks when he was president last time, and as he said in the debate, he intends to replace it but has no plan. (Laughter.) In fact, he has, quote, “concepts of a plan” — (laughter) — no actual plan, “concepts.” (Laughter.)
So, aside from that being laughable, it’s very serious, because he’s basically saying he would threaten the health insurance of 45 million people in our country based on a concept and take us back.
Remember those days when insurance companies could deny people with preexisting conditions?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We’re never going back!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember what that was like? Well, brother, we are not going back. (Applause.) We are not going back. We are not going back. We will not go back.
AUDIENCE: We’re not going back! We’re not going back! We’re not going back!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We’re not going back. (Applause.) We’re not going back. No, we are not.
We will move forward. And just like Wisconsin’s state motto tells us: Forward is where we go. (Applause.) Forward is where we go.
Because ours — ours is a fight for the future, and ours is a fight for freedom — (applause) — like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government telling her what to do. (Applause.) Freedom.
And we remember how we got here. Donald Trump handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did exactly as he intended. And now, in more than 20 states, we have Trump abortion bans, many with no exceptions even for rape and incest. It is immoral. It is immoral. (Applause.)
And let us agree — let us agree, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do. (Applause.) Not the government. Not the government.
And yet — and yet, in our debate, Donald Trump said that everyone wanted to overturn Roe.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: I have talked with folks who are here. I have talked with women around our country and the people who love them. Women are being denied care during miscarriages, some only being treated once they develop sepsis. They didn’t want this.
And we know that women have died because of Trump abortion bans. I was with a mother and the two sisters of a woman who died because of Trump abortion bans just last night. You know, and — and her mother said the worst thing among the pain that she’s experiencing is when she heard and reflects on what she was told, that it was preventable. Preventable.
And, you know, when that decision came down just over two years ago, we predicted this would happen. And it’s preventable.
You know, the young woman, she — she was a vibrant, 28-year-old young woman with — a mother of a 6-year-old son. Her name: Amber Nicole Thurman, who I promised her mother I will say her name every time. (Applause.) I will say her name every time.
And so, Amber was a medical assistant. She had just learned that she was accepted to nursing school. She had her whole future planned out, and — and her sisters and her mother were describing her to me, and they said, you know, she — she had such light and she had ambition and she had drive. And she was so proud that she had worked so hard, and she was finally gaining independence, that she found an apartment in a safe community. It had a little pool where her son could play. And she was so proud. She was so proud and so hopeful.
And then she discovered she was pregnant, and she decided to have an abortion, but because of the Trump abortion ban in Georgia, she was forced to travel out of state to receive the health care that she needed.
And when she returned to Georgia, she needed additional care, so she went to a hospital in Georgia. But under the Trump abortion ban, her doctors could have faced up to a decade in prison for providing Amber the care she needed.
And so, she waited — for 20 excruciating hours, she waited as she deteriorated. And then she reached such a s- — a state — a critical state that the doctors finally operated, and it was too late. And she died of sepsis. And recently, medical experts determined that Amber’s death was preventable — preventable.
So, understand what a law like this means, what these kinds of laws mean — these kinds of laws under Trump abortion bans. It means doctors may have to wait until the patient is at death’s door before they take any action. Nobody wants that.
AUDIENCE: No!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: What is he talking about? Nobody wants that.
Are we saying we’re going to craft, now, public health policy so that doctors only kick in when you’re about to die?
AUDIENCE: No!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is one example of what is happening around our country right now. And this is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect.
So, I will say to you, because of why we are here, we going to get Tammy reelected to the United States Senate. (Applause.) And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom — (applause) — as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. (Applause.) Proudly.
And across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on other hard-fought, hard-won fundamental rights and freedoms, like the freedom to vote; the freedom to be safe from gun violence — (applause); the freedom to join a union — (applause); the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride. (Applause.)
So, we know what we are up against. We are clear-eyed about what we are up against. And we remember that generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom, and now the baton is in our hands. (Applause.) Now it’s in our hands. It’s in our hands.
And so much is on the line in this election. And this is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher because, remember, two months ago, the United States Supreme Court basically told the former president that he will effectively be immune no matter what he does in the White House.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: But — but — but think about that. Think about what that means.
So, before, at least, there was some threat of consequence, and now the court has made this decision. Think about that. Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails — he who has vowed to be a dictator on day one; he who has called for, quote, the “termination” of the Constitution of the United States of America.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE VICE PRESIDENT: And let us be very clear: Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States. (Applause.) Never again. Never again. Never again.
So, Wisconsin, it all comes down to this. We are here together because we love our country. (Applause.) We love our country. And we understand the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth: the privilege and pride of being an American — (applause) — the privilege and pride of being an American.
And I do believe that it is one of the highest forms of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country and to fight to realize the promise of America. (Applause.)
So, Madison, Election Day, yes, in 46 days, and early voting has already started in some states. (Applause.) Early voting in Wisconsin starts in just 32 days. (Applause.) And, in fact, many of you may have already received your mail-in ballots. (Applause.)
Check this out. In-person early voting begins in Virginia and Minnesota today — today. (Applause.)
And don’t we love Tim Walz? (Applause.) (Laughs.) He’s so good. He’s so good.
So, all that to say, the election is basically here. It’s basically here, and we have work to do: to energize, to organize, and to mobilize and to remind everyone your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power. And never let anyone take your power from you. (Applause.) Never.
So, Madison, today, I ask you: 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.
God bless you. And God bless The United States of America. God bless you. (Applause.)
END 6:37 P.M. EDT
