Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Political Event | New York, NY

Cipriani Wall Street
New York, New York

3:38 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  (Applause.)  Good afternoon.  Hi, everyone.  (Applause.) 

Good afternoon.  Thank you all.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

Okay.  We have work to do.  We have work to do.  (Laughs.)  Please have a seat, everyone. 

Oh, it’s so good to see so many friends.  Thank you all, and thank you for all you have done to be so supportive.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

And thank you for all that you have done and for taking the time to be here on this Sunday afternoon.  It means so much.  And we have a lot of work to do, but there’s a lot of work that’s already happened thanks to all of you.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, thank you.

 And this is a room full of incredible leaders, including, of course, our governor of New York, Kathy Hochul — (applause); Leader Schumer, who has been an extraordinary partner to the president and me — (applause); members of Congress, including Representative Goldman.  (Applause.)  And to all the dear friends and long-standing partners here today, I thank you.  I thank you. 

All right.  Let’s level set.  Everybody get — just get comfortable.  (Laughs.)  Let’s level set.  We have 44 days — 44 days.  And every four years — because a lot of us have been in rooms like this every four years, if not more frequently — and we say, every four years, “This is the one.”  Well, this here is the one.  This is the one.  (Applause.)  This is the one. 

This is probably the most important election of our lifetime and probably one of the most important in the lifetime of our nation.  And this election really is about two very different visions for our nation, a contrast that I think became very clear in the recent debate.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, I think we should have another debate.  (Applause.)  I just accepted an invitation to debate in October, which my opponent seems to be looking for an excuse to avoid.  But he should accept.  In all seriousness, he should accept, because I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people and to the voters to meet once more before Election Day and continue the conversation from that first debate.  (Applause.) 

And in that debate, you’ll remember, I talked about my plans to bring down the cost of living, to invest in America’s small businesses, to protect reproductive freedom, and keep our nation safe.  (Applause.)  But that’s not what we heard from Donald Trump.  Instead, it was the same old show; the same old, tired playbook that we’ve heard for years, with no plan for how he would address the needs of the American people. 

Well, 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, ready for a new generation of leadership that is optimistic — optimistic about what we can do together.  (Applause.)  

And I do believe that is why Democrats and Republicans and independents are supporting our campaign, because they want a president who works for all the American people, and that is the kind of president I pledge to you that I will be. 

I have, my entire career, fought for the people.  As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, California, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them.  As attorney general of California, I defended communities that were being poisoned by polluters and Big Oil.  I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges, for workers who were being cheated out of the wages they were due, for seniors facing elder abuse. 

And as president, I will fight on behalf of all Americans.  And I know that, together, we can and we must build a brighter future for our nation, a future where we build what I called an “opportunity economy” — an economy where everyone can compete and everyone has a real chance to succeed; where middle-class families have security and stability; and all Americans, regardless of who they are or where they start, can build wealth for themselves and their children. 

To build that opportunity economy, I will bring together labor, small business, founders, and innovators in major companies.  We will partner together to invest in America’s competitiveness, to invest in America’s future.  We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors.  We will create a stable business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road.  We will invest in semiconductors, clean energy, and other industries of the future.  And we will cut needless bureaucracy and unnecessary red tape, all of which will create jobs, drive broad-based economic growth, and cement America’s leadership throughout the world.  (Applause.)  

The way I see it, this is motivated and designed in large part knowing that the vast majority of Americans don’t want to just be able to get by.  They want to get ahead.  They want to get ahead.  They want to be able to own a home, build wealth, start a business. 

And so, I’ll tell you a little bit more about some specific plans I have — and, again, in contrast to my opponent, who offers very little.  (Laughter.) 

So, for example, I’ll tell you I love our small businesses.  I love small businesses.  (Applause.)  I really do.  And maybe it’s because, growing up — and my sister Maya is here — (applause) — you know, when we were growing up — she’s somewhere, usually in the back of the room.  There she is. 

Well, when we were growing up, we lived in an apartment above a childcare center, and that childcare center was owned by Mrs. Shelton, who lived two doors down from us.  And Mrs. Shelton helped my mother raise us.  When my mother worked long days and worked on the weekends, Mrs. Shelton helped raise us to the point that Maya and I have always called Mrs. Shelton our “second mother.” 

Well, Mrs. Shelton was a small-business owner, and I will tell you that I learned from childhood the character of a small-business owner.  She was a matriarch of the community.  She mentored.  She hired locally.  She was part of the civic fabric.  And in addition, then, to being a business leader, she was a civic leader. 

 And when I travel our country — and I have been traveling our country a lot recently, but — but for the last four years, I meet our small-business owners, and they are literally — and I think we would all know this — small businesses are the backbone of America’s economy.  They really are.  (Applause.)

So, my plan includes giving a $50,000 tax deduction to start up small businesses.  (Applause.)  Because here’s the deal.  Right now, the tax deduction for start-ups is $5,000.  Nobody can start a small business on that.  If we really mean that we want to fuel the innovation, if we want to reward the ambition, we got to do better. 

We also need to build more housing in America.  (Applause.)  And so, when I referred earlier to part of how I think about things, it includes cutting the red tape.  And on the issue of building more housing, working with the private sector so that, by the end of my first term, we can build 3 million new homes.  (Applause.)  

Part of my plan includes lowering the cost of living for America’s middle-class families.  Because look, I grew up a middle-class kid, and I will never forget where I came from.  And I have a plan, then, to bring down costs on everything from health care to groceries, because it’s a real impediment to people’s ability to get ahead, and we’ve got to bring down those costs. 

Under my plan, more than 100 million Americans will get a tax cut, including $6,000 during the first year of a child’s life.  (Applause.)  Because, look, new parents, wherever they are, whoever they are, have a natural desire to parent their children well but not always the resources that are necessary to do that.  And it is in our collective benefit to be able to help them, especially when you’re talking about such a fundamental phase of their child’s development. 

So, that $6,000, that’s going to include giving them support to buy a car seat, to buy a crib, to just take care of those basic necessities at a critical time. 

All of that to say: Donald Trump has a very different plan based on a very different vision of who we are and the needs of the American people.  And I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious — extremely serious.  (Applause.)

Look, for example, at Project 2025.  And, you know, honestly, I just have to keep saying this.  I can’t believe they put that thing in writing.  (Laughter.)  I mean, they didn’t just put it in writing.  They — they bound it and — and handed it out.  And, you know, if you can’t sleep one night, google it. 

Because — because here’s the thing.  It is a detailed and dangerous blueprint for what he will do if elected president again.  He intends to cut Social Security and Medicare; to repeal our climate investments and send thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs overseas; and he wants to impose what I call a “Trump sales tax,” a 20 percent tax on everyday basic necessities, which will cost the average American family an additional $4,000 a year. 

And top economists have reviewed our plans.  Goldman Sachs says my plan would grow our economy and that his plan would shrink it.  Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists have said he would reignite inflation.  Moody’s assessed he would ignite a recession by the middle of next year. 

On top of all of this, Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act.  And as he said in the debate, he has — I’m going to quote now — (laughter) — “concepts of a plan.”  (Laughter and applause.)  “Concepts” to replace it. 

In all seriousness, think about this.  So, he’s going to threaten the health insurance of 45 million people based on a concept.  Serious consequences we’re talking about. 

And if he were to do that, it would take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions.  Remember what that was like — for so many people in our country what that meant, not having access to the health care they need? 

So, I will say, then, what I say everywhere I go and when I’m in those rooms — those very big rooms with a lot of people — yeah — (laughter and applause).  I couldn’t help myself.

But what I say there and — and folks will repeat: We are not going back.  (Applause.)  We are not going back.  We are not going back.  Because, as much of anything, our fight is a fight for the future.  Our fight is a fight for the future. 

I was saying to some folks I was talking with earlier: We’re not fighting against something; we’re fighting for something.  And ours is a fight for the future.  (Applause.) 

And ours is a fight for freedom — (applause) — because you all know — and as I travel the country it becomes increasingly clear to me — there is a full-on attack afoot against hard-fought, hard-won, fundamental freedoms and rights, like the freedom to vote. 

The — in Georgia — right? — passed a law that basically makes it illegal to give people food and water for standing in line to vote.  Think about that.  The hypocrisy abounds.  Whatever happened to “love thy neighbor”?

Attacks on the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water, the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.  (Applause.)  

And on that point, y- — many will remember: I was one of the first electeds in the country — it was Valentine’s weekend of 2004 — to perform same-sex marriages.  Twenty — (applause).  So, this last February, we just celebrated the 20th anniversary of that. 

But think about this.  Think about this.  It pains my heart when I think about that and think about something like in Florida and a “Don’t Say Gay” law and what that means, because, if you think about it, among the people directly impacted are teachers.  And think about that young teacher who is probably in their 20s who is afraid to put up a photograph of themselves and their partner for fear they could be fired.  For doing what job?  God’s work — teaching other people’s children. 

So, this is real, what we’re looking at, in terms of these attacks on fundamental freedoms and rights.  And, of course, front of mind for so many is the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.  (Applause.)

And on that point, let’s always remember and remind folks of how we got here.  Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court — the court of Thurgood and RBG — with the intention that they would overturn the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended. 

And now more than 20 states have a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions even for rape and incest, which is immoral.  (Applause.)  It is immoral to tell a survivor of a crime of violence to their body, of violation of their body, that they don’t have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next.  It’s immoral.

And as I travel the country, most people 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 with her body.  (Applause.)  Not the government. 

Elections matter.  Elections matter.

And I’ll tell you, when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.  (Applause.)  Proudly sign it into law. 

So, so much is at stake and on the line in this election.  And this is not 2016 or 2020.  It’s not ‘16 or ‘20, because — for many reasons, including what happened a couple of months ago when the Supreme Court — the United States Supreme Court basically told the former president that he is effectively immune for whatever he does when he’s in the White House. 

Now, think about that.  So, at least before that ruling, there was the appearance or the threat of consequence, but now there is essentially explicit authority to do whatever he wants. 

And let’s put this ruling, then — this decision in context.  This is a man who has vowed that he will be a dictator on day one.  He has said he would weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies.  He has called for, and I’m going to quote, the “termination” of the Constitution of the United States.  So, just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. 

So, all this to say: Forty-four days.  And we’re all here together, and you all have taken the time out of your busy lives, because we know what is at stake.  And we are all here together because we love our country.  (Applause.)  We love our country.  We love our country. 

And I do believe that it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country and to fight for us to realize the promise of America. 

So, 44 days.  And early voting has already started in some states.  So, essentially, the election is here, right?  And this race — and I cannot emphasize this enough — this race is as close as it could be.  It’s as close as it could be.  This is a margin-of-error race.  I know we’ve got a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about all that is possible.  This is a margin-of-error race.

And I’m running — and we are running — as the underdog in this race.  Our campaign is doing the work we need to do on the airwaves, on voter education in every county of every battleground state.  And we are leading in many ways in terms of what we are committed to doing to build up that grassroots and community-based leadership.  And in the process of all of that, we are leaving it all on the field. 

And your support, as you know, which is why you’ve been so generous — your support is absolutely critical to the work we have in front of us.  The leaders in this room have done so much already, and I’m going to ask for a bit more.  (Laughter.) 

So, here’s what I’m asking for.  The leaders here are part of large networks.  Everyone here is part of many large networks in which you are an opinion leader.  I need you to activate those networks — to tell your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors about the stakes.  Tell them how close this race is, and let them know why you support our campaign. 

And let them know we need their help also in the next 44 days.  And we need their help to please join our team in battleground states and help folks register to vote and get them to the polls; to sign up to make phone calls, to do that kind of work that really is so fundamentally important that’s about that human interaction that I think so many people are really craving to remind us that we’re all in this together. 

And I’ll say this.  In this campaign, let’s also be intentional about building community and building coalitions and bringing folks together, because I do believe that the work we are doing right now — yes, our first imperative is to win, but it is also to build — to build community and coalitions and to remind people that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.  I think there’s a hunger for that right now in our country.  (Applause.)

So, all that to say: This is a fight for our freedom and our future, and the baton is in our hands.  It’s in our hands.  (Applause.) 

And so, I’ll end by saying what I say at every rally.

When we fight —

AUDIENCE:  We win!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we win. 

God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

Thank you, all.  Thank you, all.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END                 4:03 P.M. EDT